Category: English

As the only daughter of a global conglomerate, I defied my family’s arranged marriage to five powerful heirs. I insisted on marrying Julian Thorne, a man whose beauty captivated me. After our wedding, he revealed an insatiable appetite for intimacy, leaving me practically bedridden every single day. But on Valentine’s Day, Julian dragged me, eight months pregnant, to go skydiving with his female secretary. I have severe acrophobia, so I flat-out refused. His secretary, Cassidy Lane, clung to Julian, whimpering, “My dearest Julian, I only want to help Elara overcome her fear! Besides, I saw on TikTok that skydiving can make babies braver!” Julian, after consoling her, turned to me, his face contorted in anger. “Cassidy is only trying to help you, Elara! Why are you so ungrateful?” I slapped him. A cold smile spread across my face. “Didn’t you know pregnant women shouldn’t do extreme sports?” “And you’re infertile, remember? If anything happens to this baby, your family line would be utterly cut off!” He moved to comfort me, but the next second, I was pushed out of the helicopter, dangling in mid-air. Looking up, I saw Julian and Cassidy passionately kissing. I pulled out my encrypted phone and called my father. “Dad, I messed up. Get Declan, my arranged fiancé, to bring my private jet and a legal team. We’re about to file for the most exorbitant divorce case in history!” *** The helicopter roared tens of thousands of feet above, my body suspended, held only by a single rope. The searing pain in my belly combined with my acrophobia was suffocating me. My vision blurred, but Julian and Cassidy’s sickeningly clear faces burned into my vision. Julian looked down at me, a sneer twisting his lips. “I think I just heard you say you want a divorce?” “And what exactly do you have to divorce me with?” “You unsophisticated little thing. I only tolerated your desperate efforts to win me over because you had a bit of charm. Now you’re scared senseless and babbling nonsense?” Cassidy covered her mouth, giggling, her eyes full of disdain. “Elara, you’re already so lucky to be married to someone as rich as Julian. Not like me, I have to work hard.” “But you’re never satisfied. You’re putting on quite a show to provoke Julian.” She tilted her head, feigning innocence. “If you truly had the power, I’d be willing to kneel and be your dog!” With that, she and Julian burst into laughter, as if my agony was nothing more than an entertaining spectacle for them. I desperately clutched the rope, my fingertips white from the strain. The pain in my abdomen intensified, but I bit my lip, refusing to let out a sound. I wouldn’t show weakness in front of them. Cassidy suddenly put on a pitiful expression. “Elara, I’m starting to feel a little bad for you. After all, the baby is innocent.” She turned to Julian, pouting. “Julian, darling, why don’t we pull Elara back up?” “But I’m just a secretary, my words don’t carry much weight.” Julian gently patted her head, then glared at me. “Why can’t you be more like Cassidy? She’s only looking out for you and the baby, wanting you to be healthier!” “Do you really want me to force your hand? I’m the father of this child, do you really think I’d harm either of you?” My vision blurred from lack of oxygen, but their cold indifference pierced me like knives. The excruciating pain in my abdomen told me the baby might be coming early. Fear and altitude sickness made me dizzy. I screamed with all my might. “Julian Thorne! If Cassidy wants to play, I’ll play along!” “But I really have acrophobia! I’m going to die if this keeps up! Did you forget?” Julian froze for a second, as if remembering something, but Cassidy immediately tugged at his sleeve, whining, “Julian, darling, I just wanted Elara to be happy.” “If you have a phobia, you should train yourself. What if the baby turns out to be a coward too?” Julian’s eyes turned cold again. “Cassidy’s right. The baby can’t be a coward like you!” My memory flashed back six months. Once, at an amusement park, Julian dragged me onto a drop tower. He knew I was terrified, but he still forced me to go with him. Afterwards, I vomited violently and was on an IV drip for three days. Yet, he gently held me, promising, “I’ll never take you on dangerous rides again. I’ll protect you.” But now, his promises had vanished like smoke. Cassidy’s arrival changed everything. Julian hesitated for a moment, reaching out to pull me up, but Cassidy pouted plaintively. “Julian, darling, I just want Elara and the baby to be braver!” Julian’s hand froze. Then, he ordered the pilot, “Fly higher! Let the baby get some exercise!” He looked at me with cold indifference. “Elara, just bear with it. The baby needs to be brave like me. You understand, right?” The rope was loosened again, and my body plummeted. The fierce wind ripped at my clothes, and the pain in my abdomen nearly made me faint. In the last moment of fading consciousness, I looked up and saw Julian and Cassidy passionately kissing, as if my life or death meant nothing to them. I looked down at the tiny clouds beneath my feet and suddenly realized, what kind of monster had I married? “Julian Thorne! I’m having contractions! The baby’s coming!” I screamed, my voice raw. “Don’t you want this baby?!” But the only answer was the sound of intimate moans from inside the cabin. Julian and Cassidy’s teasing laughter grew louder, and my pain had reached its limit. “Julian Thorne! Get out here! Save the baby! I’ll do anything you ask!” I shrieked in desperation, but only Cassidy’s seductive gasps and Julian’s low chuckles echoed from the cabin. Finally, Cassidy’s lazy voice drifted down from above. “What’s all the fuss about? I’ll pull you up when I’m done playing.” She chuckled mockingly. “But if you keep screaming like that, I can’t guarantee anything!” I gritted my teeth, enduring the agonizing pain. “Cassidy Lane! What do you want? Money? The company? I can give you anything! Just pull me up!” She cackled as if she’d heard the funniest joke. “Oh, still pretending? If you were really that powerful, why would we be bullying you like this?” The next second, a bucket of icy liquid splashed down, the biting cold making me shiver. But even worse, the liquid was mixed with sharp pebbles! “Ah!” The pebbles pelted me, leaving small bleeding scratches. Ten thousand feet up, even a tiny pebble could be deadly! “Julian Thorne! Get out here! Save the baby!” I kept struggling, but all I got was Cassidy’s cold laughter. Julian finally came out, looking impatient, but his expression instantly softened when he saw Cassidy. “Cassidy, what’s wrong?” Cassidy immediately pouted pitifully. “Julian, darling, Elara keeps cursing me, calling me a vixen who seduced you…” Julian’s face darkened instantly. He grabbed a megaphone and roared at me, “Elara Vance! You have acrophobia, and you’re blaming Cassidy? What do you think you are, daring to insult the person I love most?” Cassidy’s eyes darted around, and she suddenly suggested, “Julian, darling, I’m so bored. Why don’t we play a game?” “What game?” Julian asked, dotingly. “A golf game!” She smiled sweetly. “Let’s see who hits her more times. The winner gets a prize!” Julian nodded without hesitation. “Sounds good.” The next second, a golf ball whistled through the air and slammed into me! Julian’s shots only caused pain, but when it was Cassidy’s turn, her golf balls had razor blades embedded in them! The sharp blades sliced open my back, and blood instantly soaked my clothes. “Julian, darling, I hit her!” Cassidy clapped excitedly. Julian couldn’t see the details, just smiled and praised her. “Cassidy’s so amazing.” But just then, Cassidy suddenly threw down several knives, savagely stabbing them into my back! Excruciating pain made my vision go black, and blood gushed out. “Julian, darling, I won!” She laughed with innocent delight. Julian dotingly stroked her head. “Cassidy, you’re the best.” Warm liquid continuously gushed from between my legs, and the agonizing pain in my abdomen almost made me lose consciousness. But Julian and Cassidy watched my suffering as if they were enjoying a show, their eyes cold and unfeeling. Cassidy’s sweet voice purred to Julian, “Julian, darling, why don’t we pull Elara back up? She is pregnant, after all, it’s not good to play for too long…” Julian frowned, finally gesturing for the bodyguards to pull me up. When my body crashed heavily onto the cabin floor, he glanced at my blood-soaked clothes and the multitude of injuries, a flicker of surprise in his eyes. “How did you get so hurt?” Cassidy immediately pouted plaintively. “Elara, you’re using ketchup to fake your wounds, this act is so phony!” Julian’s eyes instantly turned cold. He roughly threw my hand away. “Elara Vance, what are you trying to pull? If Cassidy hadn’t been soft-hearted, you’d still be hanging down there!” I trembled, clutching my belly, blood seeping from between my fingers, but Julian ignored it. Cassidy smiled sweetly and suggested, “Julian, darling, it’s not fun down there, why don’t we play a different game?” Cassidy pulled a long, slender metal rod from her backpack and slowly knelt down, my eyes wide with terror. “You…what are you doing?” I desperately shielded my belly, but the next second, she violently shoved the rod into my lower body! “Ah!” My heart-wrenching scream echoed through the cabin. Cassidy stirred the rod, feigning concern. “Elara, I’m just helping you shift the baby’s position, to make the birth smoother!” “Psycho! You absolute lunatic!” I was in such agony I almost fainted, struggling to push her away, but Julian pinned me down. “Cassidy means well, don’t be ungrateful!” He said coldly, “If the baby can’t come out easily, it just means he’s not fit to be my heir.” I laughed in despair, tears mixing with blood as they streamed down my face. Suddenly, I grabbed a nearby dagger and viciously slashed Cassidy’s arm! “Ah!” She cried out in pain, blood instantly gushing from her arm. Julian exploded in rage, kicking me in the stomach! My body slammed against the cabin wall, and blood instantly soaked my dress. “The baby…save the baby…” I curled up on the floor, weakly pleading. But Cassidy, clutching her arm, cried pitifully, tears glistening on her cheeks, “Julian, darling, I just wanted to help Elara, and she did this to me! I’ll leave then, so I won’t be in her way!” Julian tenderly embraced her, gently bandaging her wound, never once looking at me. After bandaging Cassidy’s wound, Julian finally turned, sneering at me. “You used ketchup and still acted pretty well, huh? Is that why so much blood is flowing?” He finished speaking, picked up the dagger from the floor, and slowly walked towards me. “You cut Cassidy once, so I’ll cut you a hundred times.” His voice was eerily gentle. “Fair, right?” I trembled all over, but the bodyguards had already pinned my limbs down tightly. Julian crouched, and the first cut sliced open my arm, blood gushing out. “This is for Cassidy.” One cut after another, my skin was brutally sliced open, and excruciating pain made my vision black. Cassidy stood by, a triumphant smirk on her face, hypocritically advising, “Julian, darling, Elara knows she was wrong, don’t do this to her…” But Julian ignored her, continuing his punishment. Blood pooled on the floor, and my consciousness gradually faded. When I woke again, the pungent smell of disinfectant filled my nostrils. The searing pain in my abdomen was still clear, as if thousands of needles were pricking me. I instinctively reached for my belly, but found the wound bandaged, though the baby was still inside me. A nurse pushed the door open, her voice flat. “Mrs. Thorne, you’re awake?” “Please don’t move. Your water has already broken.” She paused, a flicker of pity in her eyes, quickly replaced by cold indifference. “The baby is gone.” I fiercely clutched the bedsheet, my nails almost digging into my palms. “What do you mean?” The nurse pursed her lips. “Mr. Thorne ordered that the baby must remain inside you until his secretary needs it.” “He said the placenta provides nutrients and keeping it inside you would keep it fresh for when his secretary needed it.” I scoffed, rage boiling in my chest. “So, for his absurd request, you’re willing to disregard my life too?” I struggled to sit up, staring coldly at her. “Now, call a doctor immediately to perform the surgery. Otherwise, neither this hospital nor he will be able to handle the fallout!” The nurse was startled, then scoffed. “Mrs. Thorne, save your breath. This hospital is invested by Mr. Thorne. We only listen to him.” She scrutinized me, her voice contemptuous. “If you were really powerful, you wouldn’t be in this mess!” “Besides, the longer the baby stays inside you, the more dangerous it is for your uterus. You might not even be able to have children in the future!” I took a deep breath, suppressing my fury. I picked up the checkbook, quickly wrote a string of numbers, and handed it to her. “A million dollars. Contact an outside doctor for me, now!” The nurse stared at the check, a flicker of greed in her eyes, but she quickly shook her head. “No, Mr. Thorne will find out…” Before she could finish, the ward door was violently pushed open. Julian walked in with a group of people, his face terrifyingly grim. He strode to the bed, snatched the check, and tore it to shreds. “Elara Vance, you dare pull stunts behind my back?” I stared at him coldly. “Julian Thorne, you won’t even spare your own child. Are you even human?” He sneered, reaching out to pinch my chin. “Your child will be a living incubator for mine and Cassidy’s. It’s his damn privilege! Don’t be ungrateful!” With that, he turned to the doctors behind him and commanded, “Go, take the baby out. Remember, the placenta must be intact. Cassidy is waiting!”

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My It-Girl roommate activated some kind of health system. She was the one sleeping around, but *I* was the one getting sick. One night, she went wild with a guy, and the next morning, I ended up in the emergency room. After I was discharged, I was branded as the campus slut. My Ins feed was flooded with hateful comments, and the campus SnapChat group was full of vile accusations. Even the elderly security guard came to my dorm building, asking how much I charged for a night. My boyfriend broke up with me, then immediately turned around and confessed to my roommate: “Look how pure and innocent Chloe is, she blushes just when I hold her hand! You’re a used-up slut, worn out by too many men, you’ll die of some nasty disease!” I tried to tell the doctor my suspicions, but I was labeled a crazy person and referred to psychiatric evaluation. In the end, Chloe slept with three exchange students from overseas, and I died from AIDS. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day Chloe started her whole ‘innocent darling’ act, tying her hair in cute pigtails and charming everyone.

Chloe stared at herself in the mirror, asking us if she should get plastic surgery. She mumbled about wanting to get eye surgery and a nose job. My other roommates gushed, “Babe, you’re already perfect!” She basked in the compliments, feigning distress. “Really? But I just feel like my eyes aren’t big enough.” “Then again, eyes that are too big aren’t pretty either, like Riley’s—too big, like some startled cow’s eyes.” A chill ran down my spine. According to my last life, she’d get plastic surgery soon and then go to a hot spring during her recovery, with her face still bandaged. I’d start getting skin ulcers that wouldn’t heal for three whole months. Then, she’d pull an all-nighter at a bar before exams, posing as a genius student, while I’d suffer from a splitting headache and intense vomiting, missing my core course exam and having to retake the whole thing. In my previous life, I could never figure it out. Why would Chloe cause trouble, but I’d be the one paying the price? I gathered my courage and told my boyfriend my suspicions. But he impatiently shook me off. “Are you crazy? Are you just jealous that Chloe has so much energy, gets good grades, and is gorgeous?” “Chloe is such a pure person, how could she possibly go out drinking in the middle of the night? I think you’re just spiteful.” I had thought it impossible too. But the more she messed around, the weaker my body became, until I was eventually bedridden. Until one day, I collapsed in the dorm and was rushed to the emergency room. After a blood test, I was diagnosed with AIDS. I was completely stunned. And at that very moment, Chloe was having the time of her life with three exchange students from overseas in the dorm. After I died, the whole internet exploded. They called me a slut, said I had a different man every night, that I sold my body for designer bags and shoes, that I was a ridiculously cheap whore who’d sleep with anyone. My Ins feed, the forums, online groups, and my SnapChat feed were plastered with my Photoshopped nude photos and explicit videos. Online trolls started attacking my parents: “How could you raise such a shameless daughter?” “A low-class tramp from the sticks, she’s clearly dirty! Even if you’re loaded now, you’re no better than her for raising such a disgrace!” Chloe looked at me, covered in cold sweat, and smiled. “Riley, what’s wrong? I just said your eyes were ugly, you don’t have to stare at me like that, do you?” I knew what would happen next. She’d get plastic surgery, go to bars, livestream, and hook up with three international students in the dorm until morning. Then I’d die from illness, and my parents would commit suicide. But since fate had given me another chance, I had to find out why she was promiscuous, and *I* was the one who got sick. I absolutely would not repeat the past. I managed a faint smile. “No, I was just thinking about getting a tattoo later.”

I’m terrified of pain. As a kid, I’d cry for ages just getting a vaccine, so I never imagined I’d get a tattoo. But I went anyway. The moment I sat in the shop, my palms were sweating. When the tattoo artist came over with her tools, I wanted to run, but I gritted my teeth and stayed put. Seeing me like that, the tattoo artist couldn’t help but ask, “Girl, are you sure you want this?” I gritted my teeth and nodded, “Yes.” The design was small, a tiny rose. After it was done, my arm burned and throbbed, feeling like it was on fire. The tattoo artist warned me not to let it get wet. I agreed, and when I got back to the dorm, I casually “accidentally” spilled water on Chloe’s right arm. She complained, “Riley, what are you doing? My shirt’s all wet!” I apologized profusely, secretly observing her. She was perfectly fine, but my tattoo area was already red and blistering. Not giving up, I deliberately went out and drank. I pulled an all-nighter, and came back feeling absolutely sick. But then I saw Chloe, still getting up at six in the morning to study, looking like the picture of a healthy college student, not a hint of fatigue on her face. I vaguely realized that this transfer was one-way. She did bad things, and I suffered, but when I did bad things, it had no effect on her. What if I started taking care of myself? Could I counteract her negative influence on me? To test this, I started diligently practicing self-care every day, focusing on skincare. I used the most expensive serums and took oral collagen supplements. But the result was the same. Chloe’s skin got better day by day, while everything I did seemed pointless on me. During class, two guys in our class saw us come in and started whispering. “Chloe’s gotten so hot lately, and her skin is amazing. Why didn’t I notice before?” “Ugh, look at Riley, though. It’s hilarious. She looks like death warmed over.” Chloe heard their comments and modestly covered her face. “Oh, stop it, you guys! I’m so low-maintenance, I just use bar soap to wash my face. Not like Riley, with all her expensive creams and serums, spending a fortune for nothing, right?” “But then again, Riley’s parents are major donors to the university, so she’s got all the money in the world. She can buy whatever beauty treatments she wants later, so don’t be too hard on her.” My hand, tucked into my pocket, clenched into a tight fist. I finally understood. This system only transferred my good things to her and dumped her unwanted things on me. Chloe must have figured this out too, because over the next few days, she completely let loose. She started experimenting with her style, and every night, she was on FaceTime with different men. “Babe, I’ll be over tonight, okay?” “Ugh, you’re annoying, you kept me busy for so long last time, I really don’t want to tonight…” I listened, breaking out in a cold sweat. One day, she came back from outside, humming a song and drinking bubble tea. My body, however, was wracked with sharp pains, like tiny, prickly brushes were stirring inside me. I went to the hospital, and the doctor told me it was a gynecological infection. I nearly collapsed. She went out hooking up with men, and *I* got an STD. To this day, I still haven’t fully recovered, but she seemed to be heading out again. I watched her sitting next to me, cheerfully texting some guy on SnapChat. Finally, the fear of death and my hatred for her became too much. I roared out loud. “Chloe, can you have some self-respect? Don’t you think it’s disgusting, sleeping around like this every day?” The entire classroom instantly fell silent. Chloe froze, then her eyes immediately welled up. “I… I was just ordering food delivery… why are you yelling at me?” My boyfriend, Leo, lunged from the back of the room, shoving me. “What did Chloe ever do to you? Why are you suddenly barking like a maniac?” I tried to defend myself. “She, she…” “She what?” He slapped me. “Look at you now! You’re disheveled, you smell awful, did you catch some nasty disease?” I shook my head frantically. “I told you, because she’s been sleeping around, I…” “Shut up!” he roared. “How can you be so malicious? You’re so crazy with jealousy over her that you’re spreading rumors about her in class?” The classroom had already erupted. “I thought Riley was one of those really well-behaved girls, but she’s actually…” “Her face really does look terrible lately, like she’s on drugs or something.” “She used to have such good grades, but now she’s failed several classes, and she keeps staring at people. It’s creepy.” Chloe was crying, looking like she’d just stepped out of a sad movie, but I clearly saw a faint smile on her lips. I knew. She was doing this on purpose. She knew about this system all along.

I had no choice. I took a leave of absence, took the first train home that night, sobbing as I begged my parents to get the university to transfer those three international students to a different campus. My parents were terrified. At first, they thought I was being bullied, but after I stammered out the whole story, they just thought I was losing my mind. But seeing how scared I was, my dad eventually went to talk to the principal. The principal acted quickly; those three international students were moved to another campus that very day. I breathed a sigh of relief, thinking I’d at least get a moment to catch my breath. But I was too naive. Chloe suddenly announced she was going to be an influencer, livestreaming makeup sales from our dorm every day. “Babes, look at my skin, isn’t it like a peeled egg?” “This is my new favorite product! The results are insane!” As she spoke, she smeared some shady, unregulated face mask all over her face. My scalp crawled. Sure enough, the next day, my face started peeling in patches. She, meanwhile, was bouncing around, livestreaming, and endorsing a bunch of questionable products. Not long after, she said an investor had noticed her and wanted to help her debut. “He said I have a ‘first love face’ and wants to sign me. Ugh, I’m so conflicted, should I do it?” The moment I heard that agent’s name, a chill went through me. That guy was notorious, a total sleazeball known for exploiting young, struggling influencers. He’d get them into escorting – drinking with clients, sleeping with powerful directors. Many would get dropped halfway through, and I remember one poor girl who jumped from a building. Her family never got justice. At first, I thought I’d only get sick if she got involved with those few international students. But now I understood, it wasn’t about the people, it was the system. As long as this system was active, she’d be reckless, because the one suffering the consequences would always be me. I started having insomnia, staring blankly at the ceiling all night. This couldn’t go on. Sometimes, I even thought about slipping her some poison. Or just stabbing her in the neck, and we could go down together. But I didn’t dare. This system was too twisted. What if I tried to kill her, and only *I* ended up dead? I got out of bed in the middle of the night to get water, holding the cup and contemplating for a few seconds. Suddenly, I froze. I think I knew how to fix this. The next day, I approached her, supporting her decision to pursue a career. “I really think you should go for it. Your skin is so good, and you have such presence. You’re definitely going to be famous.” She eyed me suspiciously but said nothing. A few days later, that shady investor showed up at our dorm. He leered at Chloe with an oily smile, patting his chest. “Our Chloe is a true gem. Come with me, I guarantee you’ll hit it big.” That evening, the investor took her to meet three men. They were three bloated, leering men, their mouths full of crude jokes. One of them grinned, handing her a large glass of red wine. “Chloe, I hear you can really hold your liquor? Come on, chug this first!” Another chimed in. “We brothers are here just for you today. Heard you can drink anything, huh?” Chloe smiled flirtatiously and confidently raised her glass. “I can drink anyone under the table.” “That’s the spirit!” The men clapped and ordered another round from the waiter. “Now this is someone who really wants to make it big.” At that moment, I was in the dorm, overcome by a wave of nausea. I bent over, dry-heaving, my stomach churning violently. Then came the second round, and the third. They were pouring it into her, but I was the one throwing up. My face was pale, my vision blurry, and my knees began to buckle. Chloe, on the other hand, was still smiling radiantly. The three fat men exchanged sinister glances. One of them picked up a yellowish, foul-smelling liquid and brought it to her lips. “Chloe, this drink, I prepared it just for you. Drink this, and your debut is a done deal.” Chloe nonchalantly took the glass. “Well, you big shot, you can’t lie to me, okay?” She smiled and drank it down, but the next second, she clamped her hand over her mouth, her face instantly turning green. She staggered, gripped the table, and bent over, dry-heaving again and again. The investor roared with laughter. “Whoa, Chloe, your drinking skills aren’t so great after all!” One of the fat men laughed so hard he nearly fell over, and another started egging her on. “Another glass! This is nothing, you have to be fearless to get famous!” Chloe’s red-rimmed eyes were wide with disbelief. Meanwhile, I sat in the dorm, expressionless. That gut-wrenching nausea was gone. Now it was my turn to fight back.

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Julian’s eighteenth birthday party. Amidst the cheers and egging of everyone, he pulled me into the penthouse suite on the top floor of the hotel. A night of pure recklessness. I clutched the exquisite Cartier necklace from the bedside table, a hollow, bitter laugh escaping me until dawn. I honestly thought I was the leading lady in his story. Then came the cold light of morning. I heard him on the phone just outside the door, his voice laced with a tenderness I’d never heard before, a sickening sweetness. “Don’t be mad, babe. I was just getting your gift ready last night, remember? Learning how to give a girl a necklace the most romantic way.” The person on the other end seemed to be laughing at him. Julian chuckled, a lazy, mocking edge to his tone. “I just practiced on Avery. Didn’t expect her to take it so seriously.” “You were worried I’d mess up in front of you, right? Don’t worry. My technique’s perfected now.” I pushed the door open, placed the necklace on the bedside table, and walked out without a single glance back. After blocking and deleting him from every contact, I logged into my university application system. My first choice, once an Ivy League dream, was now Westwood University. ……………………………………………. My heart felt like it was being squeezed in a vice, then plunged into icy water. The blood in my veins instantly congealed, my hands and feet turning frigid, alien to my own body. I leaned against the cold wall, taking deep, shaky breaths. Once. Twice. When I pushed the door open again, my face was devoid of all emotion. Inside the room, Julian had just hung up. He saw me, and a flicker of panic crossed his eyes—the panic of being caught. It lasted only a second, quickly replaced by a wave of irritation. “You’re awake?” He pointed at the opened velvet box on the nightstand, his tone arrogant. “Like it? Latest Cartier.” I didn’t even glance at the necklace. My gaze was fixed solely on his face as I asked calmly, “The ‘practice session’ for Seraphina… is it over?” Julian’s face instantly froze. All color drained from his handsome features, then he flushed with furious indignation. “You were listening to my call?” I let out a self-deprecating laugh. It was a shallow sound, but it sliced through the pretense of that false morning like a knife. I didn’t bother answering his pointless question. I walked straight to my bag and pulled open the zipper. My hand was steady. From inside, I took out a black bank card. I walked back to the bed and placed the card beside the velvet box. Then I looked at him, speaking each word slowly and clearly, my voice utterly devoid of tremor. “The practice fee for last night.” “Password: six eights.” Julian was stunned. He’d lived for eighteen years, always the center of the universe, elevated above all. He probably never imagined a woman would one day “pay” him with money. His expression shifted from shock to humiliation, and then to outright fury. I didn’t give him a chance to explode. I picked up the Cartier necklace, idly weighing it in my hand. The chain was cold, the diamonds rough against my fingers. “Add the cost of this necklace,” I added, “that should be enough.” Last night’s images surged uncontrollably into my mind. Julian, clumsy and unsure, putting the necklace on me, his warm breath ghosting against my earlobe. He’d whispered, “Avery, you look so beautiful in this. From now on, I’ll only ever buy these for you.” That lie, at this very moment, triggered a wave of pure nausea, my stomach churning. “Avery!” Julian’s face had turned completely dark, like the sky before a violent storm. He lunged forward, grabbing my wrist with a force that felt like he intended to crush my bones. “What the hell do you mean?!” he roared, veins pulsing visibly at his temples. I was forced to look up, meeting his blazing eyes. “It means,” I looked at him, enunciating each word, pouring every ounce of strength into my voice, “Julian, your cheap affection and clumsy technique are only worth this much.” That sentence completely ignited him. “You’re asking for it!” He raised his hand, a slap hurtling through the air, almost connecting. I didn’t flinch. I even met his gaze, my eyes filled with utter scorn and a profound brokenness. Go ahead and hit me. That one slap would be enough to repay six years of my foolish delusion. His hand, however, stopped mid-air. Just inches from my face. He was momentarily stunned by the dead calm in my eyes. It was a void so absolute, it couldn’t even spare him hatred. Taking advantage of his momentary lapse, I wrenched my hand free. I picked up my bag and, like throwing out trash, tossed the necklace back into its box. Then I turned and walked out, resolute. Behind me, I heard Julian’s staggered, furious breathing. I never looked back. 02: The apartment door clicked shut behind me. All my strength seemed to drain away in an instant. I slumped against the door, slowly sliding to the floor. The tears I’d held back all morning finally broke free. I wasn’t crying for Julian. I was crying for my own sincerity, wasted and fed to a dog for years. I was crying for my dignity, trampled and crushed beneath his heel. My phone vibrated wildly inside my bag. I pulled it out, Julian’s name flashing on the screen, blinding and repulsive. He’d probably snapped back to reality and was calling to confront me. I swiped to answer. Before he could even speak, I said in a glacial voice, “Call me again, and I’m reporting you for harassment.” Then I hung up. And powered down my phone. The world went silent. I rushed into the bathroom, turned on the shower, and cranked the water temperature to its highest. Scalding water rained down on me, turning my skin fiery red. It felt like the only way to wash away every trace and memory of last night. Only when my skin began to sting did I calm down. Wrapped in a towel, I opened my laptop and logged into the university application system. On the screen, my first choice still silently read, “Ivy League.” Back in freshman year of high school, Julian had pulled me under the old oak tree by the campus lake to make a wish. He’d said, “Avery, let’s get into an Ivy League together, okay?” I’d nodded, smiling like an idiot. To keep up with his genius on the STEM path, I’d given up my passion for the arts. All those nights I spent furiously studying now felt like sharp blades, shredding my heart to pieces. Every sacrifice, every effort, seemed like a colossal joke in the face of his casual word: “practice.” My hands trembled. The cursor moved, deleting “Ivy League.” Letter by letter, I typed again. “Westwood University.” The moment I clicked confirm, I felt a kind of lock shattering. Six years. I had finally severed this toxic connection with my own hands. My phone powered on, and dozens of unread messages flooded in. They were all from my best friend, Riley. She sent a screenshot from a SnapChat group called “The City’s Elite Circle.” It was full of the city’s most privileged heirs, just like Julian. Julian had sent an $8888 digital envelope in the group. The caption read: “Mission accomplished. Rest easy.” Immediately, people started egging him on. “Julian’s the man! Practice run smooth?” “Is Seraphina’s gift ready?” Julian replied with a smug sunglasses emoji. “Of course. The practice subject was very cooperative.” “The practice subject.” He didn’t even bother to use my name. Riley’s voice message came through right after, her voice shaking with rage. “Avery, did you see this?! That bastard! He doesn’t even see you as a person!” “Who cares about an Ivy League! Let’s go, to Westwood. I’ll go with you!” I stared at those disgusting chat logs, and the last shred of resentment in my heart was finally extinguished. I remembered last night, when I was almost asleep from exhaustion, Julian held me close. He’d whispered tenderly, “My Avery is so wonderful. Whoever marries her will be so lucky.” Turns out, the luck was Seraphina’s. I was just a prop. I took a deep breath, my fingertips cold as I typed on the screen. My reply to Riley: “Okay. We’ll go together. Somewhere without him.” 03: The next day, Julian realized I was gone. My phone was off, SnapChat blocked. It was as if I’d vanished into thin air. For the first time, he felt that I, his satellite who’d always revolved around him, had gone off orbit. This loss of control made him furious. He roared down the road in his Lamborghini, heading straight for my house. But my housekeeper, Mrs. Gable, stopped him. “Mr. Julian, Miss Avery and her friend went on a graduation trip.” “Trip?” Julian scoffed. “Where to?” “Maui, I think. Miss Avery didn’t say much,” Mrs. Gable said with a smile. Julian went directly to my parents. My parents, completely unaware, greeted him warmly. “Julian, dear, come in, have a seat,” my mom said. “Avery, that girl, just ups and leaves without discussing it with you,” my mom scolded playfully. “It’s fine, Mrs. Wallace. As long as she’s happy,” Julian said, suppressing his anger. My mom FaceTimed me right in front of him. The call connected, and on the screen was my bright smile, with a backdrop of blue skies, clear ocean, and a sandy beach. “Mom, what’s up?” “Nothing, dear. Julian’s here, he wants to say hello.” My mom turned the camera to Julian. My smile remained fixed, my tone light. “Hi! I’m having a blast in Maui. The weather here is amazing.” I skillfully avoided all topics related to him, only chatting about travel anecdotes. Julian watched me, beaming in the video, utterly speechless. An inexplicable irritation simmered inside him, a hollow feeling, as if he’d lost something important. After hanging up, I immediately handed my phone to Riley beside me. “Thanks, Riley. Your virtual background app is a lifesaver.” Riley gave me an “OK” sign. I wasn’t in Maui. I was on a flight to Switzerland, headed for a quiet little town where my aunt lived. I knew Julian had immense power. In the country, finding me would be child’s play for him. I needed to disappear completely for a while. Before the plane took off, I connected to the airport Wi-Fi and did one last thing. I logged into my mobile banking and donated every single cent from the card I’d given Julian to a girls’ education fund in a rural region. After the donation was successful, I screenshotted the e-receipt. Then, using a newly registered email, I anonymously sent it to Julian. The email subject was: “Thank you for the practice fee, Mr. Julian. I’ve made a donation on your behalf.” After doing all that, I turned off my phone, and the plane began to taxi. On the other side, Julian’s phone buzzed with an email notification. He clicked it open, seeing the glaring donation receipt and the scathing subject line. *Bang!* He was so enraged he smashed his phone against the wall. He felt like Avery had played him for a fool! “Avery!” he gritted through clenched teeth. He immediately pulled strings to check my exit records. But he was looking for “Avery Wallace.” And the ticket I bought was under my long-unused maiden name on my passport. For a while, he couldn’t find anything. Julian had never gone to such lengths for a woman, only to be met with dead ends at every turn. He was infuriated. He called Seraphina, hoping for some comfort. Seraphina’s voice was as sweet and delicate as ever: “Julian, darling, how are you doing with my gift?” For the first time, Julian found Seraphina’s voice annoying. Ten thousand feet up in the air. I gazed out at the swirling clouds, deleting all of Julian’s contacts and photos from my phone. I pulled out the diary I’d carried for years. Turning to the last page. There, in my prettiest handwriting, was a single line: “Eighteen, marry Julian.” It had been my only dream for the past six years. Calmly, I tore the page out. Then tore it into tiny pieces. The fragments fluttered from my fingertips like a silent snowfall. I leaned back in my seat, more exhausted than ever before, yet also freer than I’d ever been. And fell into a deep sleep. 04: A month later. Julian’s family held a grand celebration for his university acceptance at the city’s most exclusive hotel, inviting all of high society. And I, completely oblivious, was brought directly from the airport to the banquet hall by my parents, as if I were already a prospective daughter-in-law. I’d just gotten off the plane, dressed in a simple white T-shirt and jeans. Stepping into the glittering banquet hall, I felt completely out of place among the elegantly dressed guests. Like an intruder who’d stumbled into a world of glitz and glamour. My gaze immediately found him. Julian. He was in a perfectly tailored custom suit, surrounded by a throng of people, looking incredibly dashing and full of youthful vigor. Beside him stood Seraphina. She wore a silver, starlit gown that perfectly complemented his suit. They looked like a golden couple, made for each other. Seraphina was laughing, tiptoeing to adjust Julian’s tie, her movements intimate and natural. And Julian, he was looking down at her, his eyes dripping with tenderness. Then he saw me. His expression instantly darkened, and then a playful, taunting smile curved his lips. He pushed past the people around him and walked straight towards me. “Had enough fun?” His voice was low but filled with a controller’s mockery. “Decided to come back?” I ignored him. Didn’t even spare him a glance. I walked straight to the food station nearby, picked up a slice of tiramisu, and slowly ate it with a small fork. Ignorance was the best form of retaliation. Julian’s fist clenched at his side. He’d never been ignored so thoroughly before. Just as he was about to erupt, his mother, Mrs. Harrington, walked over. “Oh, Avery’s back!” Mrs. Harrington warmly took my hand, announcing loudly to the surrounding guests: “Everyone, let me introduce you to our Avery. She grew up with our Julian, and she also got into a fantastic university this year!” Those words instantly thrust me into the spotlight. Seraphina also elegantly walked over, linking arms with Mrs. Harrington, her smile flawless. “Mrs. Harrington, Avery must have gotten into an Ivy League, just like Julian, right? I truly envy your childhood sweethearts’ bond.” With that one sentence, she threw me straight into the fire. All eyes were on me, waiting to hear a charming story of a golden couple. Julian, too, stood with his arms crossed, watching me with an amused expression. He was waiting. Waiting for me to lower my head, waiting for me to admit I still couldn’t leave him, couldn’t leave the world he represented. I put down my dessert fork and dabbed my mouth with a napkin. Then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, I calmly took out my phone from my bag. I didn’t show it to anyone. I just lit up the screen and walked to the emcee’s microphone. *Beep—* A soft sound as I turned on the microphone. Everyone’s attention was drawn to me. I looked at the text on my screen, reading it out clearly and calmly. “Avery Wallace, congratulations on your admission to Westwood University.” The entire hall fell silent. Even the background music seemed to pause. Julian’s smile instantly froze. He lunged forward, snatching my phone from my hand. When he saw the bright red university seal on the screen, all the blood in his body seemed to rush to his head. His eyes were bloodshot as he glared at me, his voice hoarse with rage. “Are you insane?! To spite me, you’re throwing away an Ivy League spot?!” I met his crumbling gaze, my eyes as calm as a deep pool. I took back my phone and raised the microphone again. Facing everyone, and facing him, I softly said one sentence. “Julian, I think you’ve got it wrong.” I paused, looking at his distorted face, and smiled faintly. “It’s not that I’m throwing away my future to spite you…” “It’s that you were never my future.”

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Everyone knew Lily only married me to spite her first love. For five years of marriage, she played the role of a caring wife to a renowned cardiologist in public. But behind closed doors, she was cold as ice towards me and brought up divorce countless times. Later, when her first love returned to the country due to illness, Lily took meticulous care of him. She even warned me repeatedly: “Ethan’s heart condition is fragile. If you dare show your face around him, you’ll have hell to pay!” Finally, when she brought up divorce for the hundredth time, I agreed. What Lily didn’t know was that I had cancer and was dying. On the way to file for divorce, I got into a car accident. Lily never saw me arrive, but she did receive news that a matching heart donor had been found for Ethan. She rushed back to the hospital in excitement, personally performed the autopsy, and transplanted the heart into Ethan’s body. It was only afterwards that she remembered about our divorce plans, but by then my phone would never ring again…

The moment my soul left my body, the unbearable pain finally subsided. I floated above, watching the smoking wreckage of my car in the pouring rain. The driver’s side was severely deformed from the impact, and the person in the seat was unrecognizable, their bones completely dislocated. Today was my fifth wedding anniversary with Lily. It was also the hundredth time she had brought up divorce. In the past, I always avoided the topic to maintain our fragile relationship. But this time, I agreed to the divorce. Our relationship hadn’t been great these five years, but we had still spent day and night together for so long. Until a month ago, when Ethan, the man she loved but couldn’t have, returned to the country due to illness. Not only did Lily stop coming home altogether, but she also took meticulous care of him at the hospital. Everyone knew she had married me just to spite Ethan back then. But I had loved her secretly for years, so even knowing this cruel truth, I remained devoted to Lily. I watched as the ambulance from First People’s Hospital took away my mangled body, and for some reason, I followed. Lily worked at this hospital. For years, she had been a renowned cardiology expert. But as the spouse of a top doctor, I couldn’t even get treatment from her for minor ailments. Because on our wedding day, Lily had coldly told me: “I don’t want to see you at my workplace.” “And I especially don’t want you bothering me over trivial matters.” So even when I was diagnosed with cancer, I still hadn’t found the chance to tell her. Thinking of this, a dense, gnawing pain spread through my heart. My bloodied corpse wasn’t taken to the morgue, but instead to the operating room on the fifth floor. Just then, the door to the operating room opened. Two people walked in, one after the other. “Ethan, it’s illegal to harvest a heart without the family’s consent…” I recognized the person speaking – it was Andy, Lily’s apprentice. I had often brought Lily meals over the years, and this guy had eaten plenty of them. Then I heard Ethan snort coldly, crossing his arms as he walked up to my cold corpse. He looked down at me briefly before quickly turning away, unable to hide the disgust in his eyes. “I’ve waited so long to finally match with a donor. How could I possibly let this chance slip away?” He turned to Andy indifferently: “Call Lily back.” “I want her to personally remove the heart and perform my surgery.” Andy looked at him hesitantly, starting to speak several times before stopping himself. Ethan wasn’t in a hurry. He took out a card from his bag and handed it to Andy. “There’s $50,000 on this card. This stays between us.” “Even if the family comes looking later, I have ways to deal with it.” Tempted by the money and Ethan’s assurances, Andy finally took the card and dialed Lily’s number. After a series of mechanical rings, Lily’s voice filled the operating room. “What is it?” Andy paused, looking up at Ethan before slowly replying: “Dr. Lu, we’ve found a matching heart donor for Mr. Song.” “The body is in the operating room. Please come back quickly.” Hearing this, Lily’s previously indifferent tone became excited, as if she had won the lottery. “Really?! I’ll be right there!” “Ethan won’t have to worry about this anymore…” Her incredibly excited voice felt like daggers stabbing into my heart. I looked at my corpse on the operating table through tear-filled eyes. If Lily knew it was me who had died, would she still be so happy?

In less than half an hour, Lily was back. She hugged Ethan, who was waiting for her in the hallway, breathlessly saying: “Ethan, you’re finally going to be okay.” Hearing this, Ethan’s eyes also reddened as he said: “Lily, if it weren’t for you, I’d rather give up this heart…” Hearing this, Lily hugged Ethan tighter and couldn’t help kissing him lightly before solemnly saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll definitely divorce Adam.” “I… I only married him because I was angry at you in the first place.” When this widely known fact came from Lily’s own lips, my heart still couldn’t help but ache. So this was how much she loved Ethan. So after five years, I still hadn’t been able to melt this iceberg. While I was lost in thought, Lily had already comforted Ethan and told him to prepare for surgery. She then went into the operating room with Andy. For Lily, harvesting a heart was a simple procedure she could do with her eyes closed. But when she saw the blood-covered body on the operating table, she still couldn’t help but frown: “Andy, why didn’t you clean him up before bringing him here?” Andy froze, too nervous to look at Lily. In the end, he could only stammer, “Dr. Lu, Mr. Song’s donor was so hard to find.” “And isn’t this to ensure the heart stays fresh?” Hearing this, Lily said no more. She reached out to take the scalpel Andy handed her. Just as she was about to make the incision, she paused again. I followed her gaze and realized Lily was looking at my hand. On the ring finger of my left hand, a diamond ring was stained with dark red blood. I had designed this ring myself and had made a matching women’s wedding band for Lily when we got married. But she had disdainfully locked it away in a drawer and never taken it out again. “Dr. Lu, what’s wrong?” Andy looked at her in confusion. Lily shook her head, but when she spoke again, her voice carried a hint of pity. “What a pity. His husband must be devastated,” she said as she cut open my chest cavity. Andy stood beside her, handing her tools while replying: “And after examination, this gentleman also had cancer.” “It really is quite sad.” This time Lily didn’t respond, but the atmosphere in the operating room became even heavier than before. I watched her from afar, suddenly remembering how last winter I had come down with a terrible fever. I was so weak I couldn’t even get out of bed. Lily was home at the time, but she was only focused on her own work. I burned with fever all night until I was finally rushed to the hospital. The doctors said I had nearly died. But when I woke up, the first thing Lily did was berate me. “You’re a grown man! Couldn’t you have said something if you weren’t feeling well?!” She glared at me, her eyes full of anger. “Or were you just trying to use this to get my attention?” At the time, I was too weak to argue with her. She had clearly told me not to bother her even if I wasn’t feeling well. I had listened to her so obediently, so why was she still angry? And now Lily could feel sympathy for a complete stranger, so why had she been so cold to me, her husband of five years?

The heart was successfully removed. Six hours later, it began beating again. Except this time, it was inside Ethan’s body. As soon as Lily left the operating room, she went straight to Ethan’s room. Seeing him lying there sleeping peacefully, she finally let out a long sigh of relief. After checking on Ethan, Lily returned to her office. She sat down and took out her phone, but there were no messages. In the past, I would have sent her hundreds of messages every day, sharing every little detail about what I ate, what I did, how work was going. But Lily never replied to me. She stared at her phone for a long time before finally opening her contacts and scrolling to my name. She hesitated before dialing. But the mechanical ringtone just kept ringing and automatically hanging up. No one ever answered on the other end. Finally, Lily lost patience. She opened WeChat and tapped on our conversation, irritably sending two voice messages. “Adam, you already agreed to the divorce, so whether you answer the phone or not won’t change my mind.” “Don’t think playing hard to get will make me change my mind about divorcing you!” I watched her angry expression and smiled bitterly, murmuring, “Lily, if you hated me so much, why did you marry me in the first place?” But it didn’t matter anymore. The husband she despised had died in today’s downpour. Lily would never have to be bothered by me again. For the first time, Lily’s messages went unanswered. I had vanished without a trace. But she didn’t look for me, because she was convinced I was just sulking, that I was hiding because I didn’t want to divorce her. My body lay unclaimed in the hospital morgue. The reason was simple – I was an orphan. After leaving the orphanage, getting into a top design school was probably one of the most praiseworthy things in my life. The other was marrying Lily. In college, she wasn’t just the medical school beauty queen but also the top student. She was the unattainable dream girl for many guys. But back then, Lily only had eyes for Ethan. Even I, from a neighboring school, knew about their romantic love story. The first time I saw her was at an inter-school mixer. In the sea of people, Lily stood out in an expensive designer dress, confidently holding court. She was surrounded by admirers, but no one could outshine her brilliance. Later, when I got drunk, it was Lily who came over with hangover medicine. For the first time, my dull heart experienced the flutter of butterflies. But I knew the vast difference in our backgrounds. Plus, she had a boyfriend, so I kept that fondness locked away in my heart. It’s laughable, really. Those who crawl out of the mud always foolishly yearn for things far beyond their reach. I thought that would be my only interaction with Lily. Until she broke up with Ethan. By chance, I was delivering some custom buttons to her friend. On that sunny day, she looked up at me carelessly and asked, “Will you marry me?”

“Adam still hasn’t answered the phone?” In the hospital room, Ethan looked at Lily with a pale face. A moment later, he asked sadly, “Lily, after five years of marriage, did you really never have any feelings for him?” “Is his disappearance just you lying to me? You actually… don’t want to marry me at all.” “You never forgave me for leaving you back then!” By the end, Ethan was crying heartbrokenly. After these days, my emotions had strangely stabilized. I was now leaning against the window, quietly watching them. I guessed Lily would embrace him tenderly and comfort him. Sure enough, a moment later, she frowned and stood up, pulling the agitated Ethan into her arms. See? I guessed right. “Adam already agreed to divorce me. I don’t know why he suddenly lost contact.” She said, gently patting Ethan’s back to comfort him, then softly continued, “But don’t worry, I will divorce him.” “And I will marry you.” Just then, the sound of hurried footsteps approached. Two uniformed police officers burst into the room. Lily looked at them in confusion. “Officers, is something wrong?” Before the police could answer, the door was flung open again. Andy stood there, panting heavily. He looked up at Lily with trembling eyes: “Dr. Lu… Mr. Chen is dead…” [CUT-OFF POINT] Hearing this, Lily froze, looking at Andy in confusion. “Who did you say is dead?” “Mrs. Chen, we came today to inform you of this matter.” The police officer naturally took over, sighing as he pulled up a video on his phone and handed it to Lily: “A week ago in the morning, your husband Adam Chen was driving when he collided with a large bus.” “The scene was horrific. Your husband died instantly.” “To better determine responsibility, we sent the body to your hospital, but no one ever claimed it…” The video was playing on the phone, and I clearly saw Lily’s face turning deathly pale. This was the first time I had ever seen such an expression on her face. The room suddenly became deathly silent, so quiet you could hear a pin drop. Until Andy slowly walked up to the stunned Lily and gripped her shoulders: “Dr. Lu, the body you personally cut open that day was Mr. Chen.” “He was found to have cancer after death… his body is still in the morgue…” With a thud, the phone fell to the floor. Lily’s pupils constricted as she stared at Andy in disbelief. “You’re saying… that person was Adam?” This time it was Andy who fell silent, his eyes red and expression complex. I imagine his feelings must be very complicated, after all, he and Ethan had taken my heart without anyone’s consent. I used to treat Andy quite well too. Without waiting for anyone’s response, Lily suddenly bolted out of the room like a madwoman. Andy snapped out of it and quickly followed. Only a bewildered Ethan was left behind. The elevator was stuck on the top floor and wouldn’t come down, so Lily chose to run down the stairs from the 16th floor. She ran so fast she even missed a step and tumbled down the stairs. “Dr. Lu!!!” Andy hurried forward to help Lily up, but she shoved him away. Lily’s forehead was bleeding from the fall, but she quickly got up and sprinted towards the morgue on the second basement level.

I followed behind them, watching all this impassively. I didn’t understand why Lily was reacting so strongly after hearing the news of my death. Could it be that she was so happy this annoying pest was finally dead that she was overjoyed? Soon Lily reached the entrance of the morgue. She suddenly became extremely calm, slowly walking up to the row of freezers and stopping. Andy caught up, looking at her hesitantly several times before finally raising his hand to point at one of the freezers in the middle row. “Dr. Lu… Mr. Chen’s… body is here.” I floated over to stand beside Lily. She lowered her eyes to look at that spot, raising a trembling hand to grasp the handle. But she didn’t pull it open right away, just staring at it silently. I looked at her bloodless face and couldn’t help but quip: “Don’t tell me you’re so happy to hear I’m dead that you don’t know how to react?” After all, now that I was dead, there would be no one to bother her anymore. She could marry Ethan without any obstacles. The star-crossed lovers could finally be together. Thinking of this, I couldn’t help but curse. “Lily! I’ve been with you for five years, you weren’t even with Ethan for that long!” “If you don’t shed a single crocodile tear when you see me, I’ll become a vengeful ghost and haunt you forever!” I shouted loudly by her ear, but of course Lily couldn’t hear me. With a click, the freezer was pulled open. Accompanied by a gust of cold air, my battered body finally appeared before Lily’s eyes. The sight was so gruesome it made even Andy suck in a sharp breath. Lily suddenly collapsed to her knees, staring fixedly at my corpse. She began to tremble uncontrollably, tears streaming down her face like a broken dam. I was stunned. I never expected her to be this kind of person, still putting on an act of deep love in front of others even after I was dead. Before I could puzzle it out, I saw Lily’s shaking hand slowly reach towards my head. But she stopped a few centimeters away. Seeing her like this, I sighed helplessly. It made sense – my skull was completely shattered. Even though it had been pieced back together, my head still looked dented and horrifying. It was natural she couldn’t bring herself to touch it. But the next second, a heart-wrenching wail suddenly rang out in the silent morgue. “Adam!!!” Lily cried out, throwing herself onto me, repeating over and over, “I’m sorry… I’m so sorry…” My heart seized, my eyes stinging inexplicably. “Your acting is pretty good. I never realized you were such a good actress before.” Andy hurriedly crouched down and pulled the distraught Lily away from me with all his strength. “Dr. Lu! We barely managed to reconstruct Mr. Chen’s body to look like this. You can’t touch him!” Sure enough, when I looked over again, the corpse that had somewhat held its shape before had now fallen apart. Lily’s eyes were brimming with tears as she stared at the body in the freezer, murmuring, “This isn’t real… you must be tricking me, right?” “I know you always liked to use little tricks to get my attention, but Adam, can you not joke like this?” “Wake up… please wake up…” Lily was crying inconsolably, curled up in Andy’s arms and clutching his collar so tightly it seemed she might faint at any moment. Seeing this, Andy’s eyes reddened too, but he still calmly told Lily: “Mr. Chen is really dead!” “Dr. Lu… my condolences…” “It’s impossible!” Lily shouted, violently pushing Andy away. “He loved me so much, how could he bear to leave me?” “He can’t be dead… this must be a dream…” She said this as she sank to her knees in front of me, carefully raising her hand to grasp my left hand. “Adam, wake up.” “I’ll never bring up divorce again. We’ll live well together from now on.” “Please…”

In the end, Lily fainted from the emotional turmoil. I floated into her hospital room, sitting quietly on the far couch and watching her. Strangely, I felt a kind of inexplicable satisfaction. When I first had the accident, I had hoped she would quickly find me and bring me home. But then I watched with my own eyes as she cut out my heart and put it in Ethan’s body, and later showed such indifference to my disappearance. For the first time, I truly understood what it meant for one’s heart to turn to ashes. People often say that even raising a dog for a long time will create emotional attachment. But Lily was truly heartless towards me. Then again, she didn’t love me, so of course she could be so cold. Lost in thought, Ethan entered the room. Still in his hospital gown, he sat by the bed looking haggard and nervous. Soon after, Lily woke up. “Lily! You’re finally awake.” Ethan said excitedly, throwing himself onto Lily and choking up, “I know his sudden death is hard for you to accept right now.” “But if you think about it, this is actually a good thing! There won’t be any more obstacles between us.” “My illness was cured because of Adam’s death. You should be happy for me!” Lily didn’t answer Ethan. She suddenly shoved him away, throwing off her blanket and stumbling towards the door. Seeing this, Ethan quickly got up and grabbed Lily, anxiously asking: “Where are you going?!” “I’m going home…” she mumbled, walking out on her own, still muttering, “Adam is waiting for me at home.” “If I don’t go back soon he’ll definitely get angry and ignore me.” Hearing her words, Ethan’s face went white. He let go of Lily’s hand in shock.

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I watched as my childhood friend, drugged and burning with desire, lured the principal’s son into the bathroom. Then I turned and walked away. In my past life, I had rushed in to stop her. That decision put me in danger. By the time the police arrived, photos of me in disheveled clothes in the bathroom were spreading like wildfire online. “So much for being the cold, top student. Just a sex-crazed pervert.” My reputation was ruined and I was expelled from school. To save her own reputation, Olivia married me. But our marriage was my true hell. I fell into severe depression and mental illness. My parents, trying to make amends to Olivia, gave her everything. But the first thing she did after gaining control of our family company was to frame my father for financial crimes. My father died of a heart attack in prison. My mother, unable to bear the shock, died in a car accident. When I heard the news, I was devastated. But Olivia, my wife of 10 years, appeared before me arm-in-arm with a transfer student: “You bitch, if you hadn’t interfered back then, Ethan and I would have been together long ago. I wouldn’t have had to abort our child.” I coughed up blood and died with my eyes open. When I opened my eyes again, I had returned to the day Olivia was drugged. 0

After school, the campus was nearly empty. I took deep breaths of fresh air, trying to calm myself. Being suddenly pulled back from the hatred and fear of my death was jarring. Ethan was handing Olivia a bottle of water. It contained an aphrodisiac that would inflame her desires. In my past life, I had accidentally discovered Ethan pouring some unknown white powder into the water. I exposed him on the spot. But Olivia didn’t believe me. She insisted on drinking the water anyway. She even asked if I was just jealous that Ethan was better looking than me, and that’s why I kept targeting him. This time, I wouldn’t stop her. After taking the water, Olivia instinctively looked at me. “You’re not going to try to control even my drinking water, are you?” “Do whatever you want,” I said with a wave of my hand. Ethan couldn’t miss a chance to antagonize me. He immediately chimed in: “Alex, your possessiveness of Olivia is too much. Doesn’t she even have the freedom to make friends?” At his words, the few classmates still in the room gave me strange looks. Olivia’s face darkened even more. “Who does he think he is? Just a bookworm.” I gripped my pen tightly, hatred surging in my eyes. “Are you two done? I haven’t said anything from start to finish.” Olivia was taken aback, and fell silent with a scowl. Ethan continued stirring up trouble. “You didn’t say anything, but your face says it all. Olivia and I just talk for a bit and you glare at us.” Hearing this, Olivia shot me an angry glare. As if to spite me, she drank the entire bottle of water. In my past life, I had knocked the bottle away, so she only took one sip. But even that one sip was enough to make her lose control. I couldn’t imagine what drinking the whole bottle would do to her. I found myself looking forward to it. Seeing her finish the water, Ethan could barely hide his excitement. He took Olivia’s hand. “Olivia, let’s walk home together.” Of course Olivia wouldn’t refuse. The two left the classroom hand in hand. Ten minutes later, Emma, our class president, burst into the classroom red-faced. By then, I was the only one left in the room. Emma stammered, clearly struggling to speak. “What’s wrong? Did something happen to Olivia?” I asked proactively. Emma grabbed my hand: “Yes, yes, it’s them… they…” “What happened?” I looked Emma in the eye, pretending I knew nothing. I used to trust Emma completely. She wasn’t just our class president, but my deskmate for all three years of high school. I thought we were close friends who could tell each other anything. But I never imagined she would stomp on me so viciously after the incident. She told everyone that I had a crush on Olivia and drugged her. She even started a livestream to denounce my actions. “I was his deskmate for three years. I always knew he liked Olivia, but I never thought he would do something like this.” “Alex is a sex addict. He… he once called ten prostitutes in one night.” “I tried to talk him out of it, but he wouldn’t listen.” That livestream pushed the whole incident to its peak. I was completely ruined. The school pressured me to drop out. Later, I ran into her by chance. By then she had risen to a high position. “Thank you. If you hadn’t gotten into trouble, I wouldn’t have been able to take your spot for early admission to a top university.” The memory flooded back, and I stared hard at Emma. In my past life, she and I had discovered Ethan dragging Olivia into the bathroom together. I rushed in to stop them, while Emma said she would call for help. But she just hid and watched, recording a video… Seeing I wasn’t in a rush, Emma became frantic and incoherent. “Olivia and Ethan went into the men’s bathroom. Olivia keeps crying. Ethan… Ethan is trying to assault Olivia.” “But don’t they like each other? How do you know Olivia isn’t willing?” I asked. Emma was stunned by my response. Everyone in class knew Olivia and Ethan were flirting, just short of making it official. Emma anxiously grabbed my wrist. “But they’re still students. They can’t do this!” “Come on, let’s go check. We can’t just ignore this.” 0

The calculation in Emma’s eyes was about to overflow. She just wanted to ruin me to get that early admission spot to a top university. I didn’t say anything more and followed her downstairs. On the way, I secretly sent pre-written help messages to the principal and other school leaders, and contacted some nearby livestreamers. Ethan was the principal’s son after all. When pressuring me to drop out in my past life, the principal had utterly humiliated me. This time, I wanted the principal to get a good look at the show her son was putting on. As we approached the bathroom, we could hear ambiguous sounds from inside. “Oh Olivia, more, I want more.” “Olivia, you’re amazing.” The woman’s moans and man’s grunts were nonstop. Emma’s eyes darted around: “Alex, you go in first to stop them. I’ll go find someone to help.” “No, I can’t go in. Let’s just wait here for a teacher,” I said, shrinking my neck in an act of fear. Emma glared at me in annoyance. She held back her temper and whispered: “If you don’t go in now, it’ll be too late. Do you really want to let Ethan have Olivia?” The bathroom door wasn’t fully closed. Through the gap, I could see Ethan pressing Olivia against the wall. Olivia’s clothes were half off, exposing her. Ethan was frantically tearing at Olivia’s uniform, biting her all over. Olivia pretended to struggle, but wasn’t using any real strength. Her coy resistance only made Ethan more uncontrollable. I pressed my lips together tightly, pretending to be conflicted: “Alright, you’re right. I’ll go in now.” Just as I was about to push the door open, I turned back to Emma and said, “Hurry and find a teacher. I can’t hold out for long.” Emma nodded eagerly. She turned and ran. But after turning a corner, she came right back. She gleefully took out her phone, started recording, and wedged it in the door crack. Inside was chaotic, with unrestrained lewd sounds coming through. After doing this, Emma left satisfied to find a teacher and security guards. When a group rushed to the teaching building, the people inside were still going at it vigorously. Emma covered her face and cried, blocking the principal. “Teacher, I… I don’t know why they’re doing this!” The principal’s face was dark with anger. She didn’t know her son Ethan was inside. Emma hadn’t clarified who was in there. Emma didn’t just want to ruin me – she wanted to ruin Ethan too. After all, in her view, we were both her competitors. And it just so happened that education officials were here for an inspection today. Now, a group of education officials were following the principal to “catch adulterers in the act”. The scene couldn’t be more dramatic. The principal was shaking with rage. With education officials watching, her chances for promotion were likely ruined. The principal probably wanted to kill the fornicating couple inside. The principal tried to keep walking forward. Emma blocked her again, wailing: “Principal, it’s… it’s…” She pretended to be reluctant. The principal grabbed her shoulders. “Who is it?” Emma acted like she was scared to tears, and said haltingly, “It’s Alex.” Of course the principal knew me. My grades were always top of the year. I was the most promising candidate for early admission to a top university. The principal’s eyes bulged with rage. “That little—” She cut off the insult she was about to say. The education officials were still watching. The principal couldn’t say anything too harsh at this moment. The people inside were still lost in their passion, completely unaware of the commotion outside. The lewd sounds coming through became even more unrestrained. Emma clutched her chest and cried: “Alex, how could you! Why can’t you control yourself? Are you really that desperate for women?” At these words, the education officials’ faces turned extremely ugly. They considered themselves respectable people, and couldn’t barge in at a time like this. The group waited awkwardly downstairs, exchanging looks. “Me? What did I do?” I finally emerged from my hiding spot. 0

“Why are you here?” Emma cried out in shock. The principal eyed me suspiciously. “It’s not you? Then who’s inside?” I shrugged. “I don’t know. I didn’t see clearly who it was.” Since Emma deliberately concealed it, I naturally had no reason to expose it. At this moment, some livestreamers who got the news rushed in, ignoring the school security guards trying to stop them. “Wow, the students at your school are so open, having sex in broad daylight.” “Yeah Principal, aren’t you going to take us for a look?” “Principal, what are your thoughts on this? Chat with the viewers a bit.” The principal’s face was ashen. She kept her expression tight and said nothing. Emma stared at me hard, finally losing it. She grabbed my hand: “Didn’t you go in? Then who went in just now?” “I was scared. I didn’t dare go in,” I said, forcing out tears and acting cowardly. Emma was so angry she raised her hand to slap me. Just as her palm was about to hit my face, she stopped herself, glaring at me fiercely. The livestreamers’ equipment was pointed at us. Comments were scrolling by rapidly in the livestream. [666, this is too exciting.] [You can tell how intense it is just from the sounds.] [Streamer hurry up and go in to record! Let us feast our eyes!] The streamer chuckled, “I don’t dare. My stream would get banned as soon as I went in.” I turned away from the camera and smirked at Emma. She was dumbfounded, her eyes wide. “You…” “What’s wrong, class president?” I asked innocently. The education officials’ faces were flushed red. One pointed at the bathroom: “Johnson, go talk some sense into your students!” This couldn’t be covered up anymore. Principal Johnson was so angry her face was twitching. “Good, good, these students are really something.” As the principal charged towards the bathroom, I ran over crying and grabbed her. “Teacher, you shouldn’t go in.” The principal shoved me away forcefully. “Get lost! Why are you all trying to stop me? What are you up to!” Everyone frowned at me. Emma had reacted by now. She hid in the crowd, staring at me unblinkingly. She must have thought of something, because she suddenly ran over. “Alex, stop interfering with them. I know you like Olivia, but she deserves this.” She acted like she was looking out for me as she pulled me away, looking pained: “We’re just students. We shouldn’t get involved in the teachers’ business.” Seeing I still wanted to stop her, the principal shoved me away forcefully. I cried heart-rendingly, wailing to the livestream cameras: “But there are so many people here. If this gets out, what will happen to the people inside?” I pretended to be very concerned about the people inside. On camera, of course I had to act like I cared about my classmates. At my words, the principal paused. The education officials also looked troubled. They couldn’t just barge in to “catch adulterers” on camera. If it caused the students involved to have issues, they couldn’t bear that responsibility. The group hesitated about 30 meters from the bathroom. We weren’t very close, but we could still clearly hear the sounds from inside. The livestreamers tried to get closer to film, but were blocked by security guards. And so, the group waited outside to see what would happen. After a full two hours, the sounds inside finally started to die down. The bathroom door opened. But to everyone’s surprise, the satisfied-looking man who walked out wasn’t a student from our school. The man was tall and muscular, with a scar on his face. Seeing so many eyes staring at him, he spat in disgust. “What are you looking at? Keep staring and I’ll gouge your eyeballs out.” Seeing it was some thug, the principal visibly relaxed. As long as it wasn’t students involved, it would be easier to handle. But then someone cried out in shock, “Holy shit, inside…” 0

A livestreamer seized the chance to rush over. The bathroom door was wide open, revealing the chaotic scene inside. It made everyone gasp. Ethan and a disheveled Olivia were lying naked on the floor. Both their mouths were covered in some unknown liquid. Several men were standing around them. “This boy was even better than a woman. Felt so good.” “Such a slut. Even the bunch of us couldn’t satisfy him.” “This girl’s useless, passed out after a bit. The boy had way more stamina.” The men leisurely put their pants back on. Seeing the door open, they reluctantly came out. I recognized a few of them as construction workers building the new school building. Meanwhile, Ethan seemed to have lost his mind, still mumbling: “More, I want more…” The livestreamer shouted, “Holy fuck, he swings both ways!” I was shocked too. I never knew Ethan was into both men and women. Olivia looked like she had been roughly used, her body covered in bruises. Her hair was matted to her face, making it hard to recognize her. The principal was dumbstruck at this scene. She was shaking with rage. “You two, have you gone insane?!” Ethan was jolted awake from his half-conscious state by the principal’s shriek. He propped himself up and saw the crowd in front of him. He shuddered violently. He hurriedly picked up his tattered clothes from the ground and haphazardly put them on. He tried to stand up. But he slipped and fell heavily to the ground with a thud. The education officials quickly exchanged glances. The principal’s face was extremely ugly. How dare someone make such a scandal at this critical moment for her promotion! And in front of so many officials too. Her career was ruined. The principal seemed ready to just break everything. She rushed over and grabbed Ethan’s hair: “You worthless piece of trash! How did your parents raise you, huh?” Ethan’s scalp hurt from being grabbed, but he couldn’t bring himself to tell his mom to stop. Meanwhile, Olivia was still crawling over to Ethan, groping him all over in her unsatisfied state. Ethan kicked her away in disgust. In the past two hours, he had grown to thoroughly despise Olivia. I hid in the crowd, crying inconsolably. I looked every bit the good student who cared deeply about his classmates. The principal and our newly arrived homeroom teacher cursed and insulted Olivia nonstop. Olivia huddled in her clothes, shivering. At one point, someone tried to brush her hair aside, but she slapped their hand away like a madwoman. I watched the show from the back. Emma looked on worriedly, glancing back at me from time to time. The principal’s chest heaved violently with anger. The education officials sighed and shook their heads. They said something to the principal before leaving. After they left, the principal’s face looked even worse. She finally lost control and rushed over to kick Olivia and Ethan several times. Ethan dodged, naked. The drug’s effects hadn’t worn off for Olivia. Her whole body was weak and she couldn’t dodge. She cried out in pain. Ethan wailed heart-rendingly, “Stop hitting, stop hitting.” After beating Olivia, the principal went to hit and scratch Ethan. She cornered him against the wall. The principal gnashed her teeth: “You slut, why are you hiding? Weren’t you having fun? Come on, let everyone see how thick your skin is.” The principal deliberately moved aside so the livestream cameras could get a clearer shot. Then the principal grabbed Ethan’s hair and yanked his head back. That pale face under the messy hair was fully exposed.

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Three months before our wedding, my fiancé Ryan posted on Instagram – photos of his marriage certificate with my adopted sister Chloe, along with pictures of her pregnant belly. The caption read: “Legally welcoming our little bundle of joy.” Chloe commented with a shy emoji. My mom liked the post, commenting: “Once the baby is born, I’ll take care of it so you two can enjoy your time together.” I couldn’t help but reply with a question mark. The next moment, Ryan’s harsh rebuke came at me like a slap in the face. “She’s only borrowing my name for a year of marriage. Once the baby is born, I’ll be back with you.” “Don’t be so petty. My mom also said we should only get our marriage license after you give birth to a son. It works out perfectly – we can have the wedding first and get the license later.” I gave a faint “Mm” in response, then deleted all Instagram posts related to Ryan before posting a new one: “Need a new groom. Who wants to marry me?” Ryan was the first to reply. [Aria Young, are you out of your mind? I’m just marrying her on paper, why are you making such a big deal out of it?] [You don’t seriously think posting on Instagram will make me jealous, do you? That’s laughable. I’m warning you, stop causing trouble over nothing, and don’t you dare give Chloe a hard time.] Chloe quickly followed up on Ryan’s comment. [Sis, Ryan is just trying to help our baby be born legally. I won’t steal him away from you. After you and Ryan get married, my child can call you mom too.] My mom scolded me for being ungrateful. [You get to have a child without going through the pain of childbirth. Chloe is doing you such a huge favor, shouldn’t you be thanking her?] Several comments followed from Ryan’s buddies, all chiming in. [You and Chloe are sisters, so it doesn’t matter which of you Ryan marries, you’re all family anyway. How about Chloe gets him Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and you get Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday!] Everyone was joking and laughing at my expense. I stared at the screen in shock, tears welling up and spilling over onto my phone. They were clearly in the wrong. Yet they had the audacity to turn around and blame me. How ridiculous. These people weren’t worth my tears. I wiped my eyes forcefully and scrolled through the mess of comments. One stood out from the rest. It was from Sean White: “Can I be your new groom?” Sean and I grew up together. After college graduation, I stayed in the city while he chose to study abroad. We’d avoided each other since I started dating Ryan in college. It had been years since we last spoke. As I pondered this, Sean called me directly. “Aria, I’ve liked you for a long time.” “You know I’ve always hated your adopted sister, so I would never have anything to do with her. I don’t have a bunch of shady friends either. These past few years, I’ve been focused on my career and haven’t dated anyone.” As he spoke, I suddenly received a contract. When I opened it, I saw it was the transfer of rights to all his assets and shares. While I was still in shock, Sean nervously said: “Aria, this is all the sincerity I have to offer. Will you give me a chance?” My nose stung with emotion. Suddenly, I remembered when we were kids. Our teacher rewarded us with two candies that Sean loved. He was clearly craving them, but he didn’t eat a single one. He saved both for me. He had always given me his utmost sincerity. I choked up a bit as I said: “I will.” Love had always seemed so elusive. I tried to grasp it, only to end up hurt and scarred. I had thought… I had thought being alone would be fine. But my grandmother’s dying wish was to see me married, to know someone would take care of me after she was gone. Ryan wasn’t worthy. But if the groom was Sean, I think Grandma would be truly at ease. Sean’s voice was full of joy. “Then I’ll wrap things up at work and come back to marry you within two weeks.” “Aria, you’ll wait for me and won’t change your mind, right?” His tone held a hint of pitiful pleading. It reminded me of when we were kids and I promised to be his bride when we grew up. I made a sound of agreement. Suddenly I felt the urge to cry. “Sean, let’s pinky swear on it.” After hanging up, my mom pushed open my bedroom door. “Where’s that sapphire necklace your father left you before he died?” I remained silent, not answering.

Mom frowned in displeasure. “What’s with that attitude? Your sister just thought it was pretty and wanted to borrow it for a few days. Hurry up and get it out, don’t be so stingy!” Chloe hung on Mom’s arm, saying dejectedly: “It’s okay, Mom. Sis has never seen me as real family. If she doesn’t want to lend it, I won’t force her.” “She wouldn’t dare refuse! That necklace belonged to my husband, your father. I’m making the decision to give it to you today.” Mom hugged Chloe and glared sternly at me. “If you don’t hand it over, don’t blame me for having people search your room.” I stared at her blankly, my smile more painful than crying. The once gentle and loving mother in my memories. Had ultimately transformed into this harsh, scolding face in reality. But I was about to leave this place forever anyway. I no longer had the heart to argue pointlessly with her. Silently, I took the sapphire necklace out of its velvet box and handed it to her. Mom smiled with satisfaction. “That’s more like it. Chloe is your sister, so you as the older one should let her have the nice things.” After Mom left, Chloe put on the necklace right in front of me. “Sis, don’t blame Mom for favoring me. To be honest, this necklace looks better on me anyway.” “Just like how Ryan is more suitable as my boyfriend.” “What belongs to me, others can never have.” Seeing Chloe’s smug expression, I didn’t say a word. People like her – the more you engage, the more they push it. I picked up my purse and walked past her down the stairs, ignoring her completely. “Ah! Sis, why did you push me…” Chloe suddenly darted in front of me, pretending I had shoved her as she stumbled towards the stairs. I may despise her, but I instinctively reached out to grab her. After all, falling down over 20 steps was no joke. “Aria Young, you vicious woman!” Ryan violently smacked away my hand that was steadying Chloe’s arm. My hand slammed into the railing with a loud “THUD.” The pain instantly brought cold sweat to my brow. “Ryan, thank goodness you came in time, or else I…” Chloe hid in Ryan’s arms, her face streaked with tears and fear. “It’s okay, don’t be scared. I’m here.” Ryan stroked Chloe’s head, comforting her softly. “I won’t let anyone bully you.” I looked at my own hand, already bruising and swollen from the impact. Then I looked at Chloe, who had only gotten a little scare but was being held tight and fussed over by Ryan. Suddenly it all felt so ironic. The boy who once showered me with love and promised to treat me well forever. The man who was supposed to marry me in just three months. How could he have changed his heart so suddenly? After soothing Chloe, Ryan glared at me darkly. “I know you’ve been unhappy about me marrying her and having a baby behind your back. You can take it out on me if you want, since I didn’t tell you beforehand.” “But you can’t hurt Chloe. Her health is fragile, she’s pitiful enough as it is.” “All she wanted was a chance to be a mother. What’s wrong with that? Why should she bear the brunt of your anger?” He pointed at me angrily. “You have to apologize to Chloe today!” I struggled to control my trembling body. Through gritted teeth I asked: “Then what did I do wrong?” “What exactly did I do wrong?” Ryan stared at my reddened eyes, taken aback for a moment. “Never mind, Ryan. Even though I almost fell to my death…” “I don’t blame Sis, and I don’t need her to apologize.” “You two are still getting married in the future. I don’t want you to fight because of me.” Chloe cried pitifully. Ryan sighed, looking at her with tender affection. “Chloe, sometimes your kindness breaks my heart.” He turned to me with cold eyes. “At the end of the day, you’re just jealous of Chloe. You can’t stand to see her doing better than you.” “I’ll let it slide this time since Chloe spoke up for you. But if you dare hurt her again, I won’t go easy on you.” He picked Chloe up in his arms. Before leaving, he looked at me with disappointment and said: “You don’t measure up to your sister at all.” Only I remained in the silent living room. I stared blankly at the withered leaves drifting outside the window. Finally unable to hold back, I crouched down and sobbed into my hands. One last time… This was the last time I would cry over Ryan. That afternoon, Ryan posted on Instagram. It was a 9-photo collage. The photos showed different corners of a house.

The caption read: “Every room, every piece of furniture, every decoration here was carefully chosen by me. I just want to give my baby a warm and comfortable home.” Many people offered congratulations in the comments. “Congrats to Mr. Brown on becoming a father so soon!” “So you and Aria are having a shotgun wedding! Congratulations!” “The bride is so lucky to have such a good husband in Ryan. So envious!” “I wouldn’t miss your wedding in three months for a billion-dollar deal.” Just as the comment section was buzzing with well-wishes, Chloe suddenly chimed in: “Please don’t misunderstand, everyone. This isn’t Ryan’s marital home, it’s my house.” The comments section instantly fell into awkward silence. I was the first to break it, posting: “Three’s a crowd. I’m out. Wishing you two happiness.” With that, I couldn’t be bothered to see what else they might say. I directly deleted Ryan and Chloe from my friends list. Within minutes, Ryan called me. “Aria Young, have you had enough of this tantrum?” I calmly replied: “I’m not throwing a tantrum.” Ryan fumed. “That comment you left on my Instagram was clearly trying to smear dirt on Chloe.” “Do you have to paint her as the other woman to be satisfied?” “If you keep slandering her, we can just call off the wedding!” I listened to his cold, heartless accusations, my heart as still as dead water, unmoved. “Ryan Brown, what makes you think I’d still want someone’s sloppy seconds?” I hung up the phone. Perhaps the words “sloppy seconds” stung him. He called me countless times after that. When the calls wouldn’t go through, he bombarded me with messages. I ignored them all. In ten days I would be marrying Sean. These people would all become part of my past. I had hoped to spend the remaining days coexisting peacefully with them, but I never expected Chloe to knock over my father’s urn. The ashes scattered on the floor. Not only did she show no remorse, she even let her pet cat urinate on them. Then she looked at me with glee. “Sis, look! The ashes can even be used as kitty litter for my cat!” In that moment, the grief and rage I had been suppressing exploded. I snatched up the baseball bat by the door and swung it viciously at Chloe. She took one hit and ran away screaming, her face pale. “Aria Young! You’ve really gone too far! How dare you hit your sister!” Mom’s appearance made Chloe feel like she’d found a savior. She hid behind Mom, trembling. Sobbing, she said: “Mom, I’m scared. Sis tried to kill me!” Mom shielded Chloe like a mother hen protecting her chick. She berated me harshly: “I’ve let your bullying of your sister slide before, treating it as harmless squabbling. But this time you’ve gone too far.” She was my mother, yet she always stood against me, defending an adopted daughter with no blood relation to her. Nothing could be more heartbreaking than this. I stared at Mom through tear-filled eyes. “She knocked over Dad’s urn!” “That was Dad! My Dad! Why? Why!” Why did they have to destroy the last memento Dad left me, even though I had already been so tolerant? Why didn’t my own mother love me?

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I’m the top salesperson who brings in millions in revenue for the company. Just because I didn’t compliment her looks in the company SnapChat group, she fired me without hesitation. She replaced me with her cousin. Until later, when the company’s sales plummeted to zero. She came to apologize to me in person. “Please come back. My boyfriend said he’d break up with me if you don’t return.” **** The boss went on a business trip for a month and left his girlfriend in charge of the company. Who knew that her first act as the new boss would be to target me? At 10 AM, I arrived at the office on time. I saw my colleague looking nervous, pointing at the boss’s office and whispering, “Tiffany’s here. She wants to see you!” Tiffany Fox was the boss’s new girlfriend, known for her arrogance and bullying. She would curse at anyone she didn’t like. Once, when a female colleague stayed a bit longer in the boss’s office to report work, Tiffany spread rumors that she was a prostitute. She bullied that girl so much that she was forced to resign. But because Tiffany was sweet-talking and good at flattery, the boss usually let her do whatever she wanted. I didn’t expect her to target me now. I put down my coffee and pushed open the door to enter the office. As soon as I entered, a file flew towards my face. “Do you know what time it is? Company policy states work starts at 8 AM. Why are you coming in at 10?” The sharp edge of the file folder left a bloody cut on my forehead. I held my head, looking at Tiffany who was throwing her weight around behind the desk. My 10 AM start time was a perk for being the top salesperson. Everyone in the company knew about this unwritten rule. Years ago, when the boss’s company was about to go bankrupt, they accidentally hired me. In my first month, I generated $5 million in sales, bringing the company back from the brink of death. Since then, the boss had treated me like a precious asset, usually listening to my opinions on major decisions. She slammed the table, her face contorted with rage: “Look at your punch card. You’ve been coming in at 10 for a whole month. Do you think you’re above company rules?” “According to company policy, three consecutive days of tardiness can result in termination!” “You can get out now!” I looked at Tiffany in disbelief: “You’re firing me? Did you ask the boss?” I created 80% of the company’s profits, and she dared to fire me? Tiffany snorted coldly, looking at me with disdain: “You’re just a salesperson. A lousy peddler. What’s wrong with me firing you?” “This is my boyfriend’s company. I’m the boss’s girlfriend, I can fire whoever I want!” The boss had treated me well, so I couldn’t just leave like this. I sat down on the sofa: “You should ask for the boss’s opinion first.” Tiffany rolled her eyes: “Who do you think you are?” Saying this, she directly called the boss. The boss’s voice on the other end sounded tired: “What’s the matter?” Tiffany, who had just been yelling at me in a shrill voice, immediately softened her tone, cooing, “Honey, I miss you.” The boss sighed: “Just tell me what you want.” Tiffany glanced at me triumphantly: “There’s a salesperson who doesn’t follow the rules, always coming in late. I want to fire him.” “Whatever, I need to rest now.” The boss casually agreed and hung up. Tiffany looked at me arrogantly: “Did you hear that? I can fire whoever I want. Now get out!”

I laughed coldly, looking at Tiffany: “Are you sure?” “If the boss comes back and finds out you fired me, he might get angry.” I kindly reminded her. After all, headhunters had been trying to poach me with high offers for years, but out of loyalty to the boss, I had always stayed. My leaving wouldn’t affect me at all, but Tiffany might not be so lucky. Tiffany glared at me, her face twisted with arrogance and tyranny. “Who do you think you are? You’re just a salesperson. I’m my boyfriend’s future wife, the mistress of this company. Do you think he’d choose you over me?” Hearing her say this, I shook my head. If that’s how it is, so be it. I turned and left the office. Outside, my colleagues had heard our argument but didn’t know what happened. They kept looking at me. “Boss, what’s going on?” I started packing my things efficiently, smiling: “What’s going on? I got fired, that’s what.” My colleague’s eyes widened, looking at me in disbelief: “Fire you? Has Tiffany gone crazy? Everyone knows you’re the boss’s golden goose. Isn’t she afraid the boss will break up with her?” I shook my head and chuckled: “Well, that’s not my problem anymore. After all, it’s her decision, she’ll have to bear the consequences.” “Besides, I’ve been working for so many years, it might be nice to take a good rest.” I had long ago saved enough money to be financially independent, but I had never taken a break and felt too embarrassed to ask. This was a perfect opportunity. My colleague was furious: “But why did she fire you? Did you offend her somehow, boss?” I frowned, thinking carefully: “I guess it’s because last time when she spread rumors about Zoe, I stood up for Zoe, remember?” “Since then, she’s been picking on me, always finding fault one way or another.” Yesterday, Tiffany uploaded a photo of herself to the company WhatsApp group, and everyone was flooding the comments with compliments. I was the only one who read it without replying. I guess that was the final straw. “Should I call the boss now? You’re the backbone of the company, you can’t just leave like this.” I shook my head, smiling lightly: “Forget it. If I ever come back, it’ll be after Tiffany and the boss break up. I really can’t stand her behavior anymore. We’ll see in the future.” I finished packing my things and headed to the finance department to collect my salary for the month. I had only worked for ten days this month, but my salary and commission amounted to $100,000. I informed the finance staff about my termination and asked her to transfer the salary to my account later. Unexpectedly, Tiffany suddenly appeared at the company entrance, glaring at me: “Jack Wilson, didn’t I tell you to get lost? What are you doing here?” I looked at her calmly. She was gloating, thinking she had found a good boyfriend, looking particularly disgusting. Seeing that I didn’t respond to her, Tiffany became agitated. She came forward and grabbed my clothes: “Are you deaf? What are you doing in the finance department? These are all important company documents. Get out now, or I’ll call the police!” I frowned and forcefully shook off Tiffany’s hand. “Let go!” “Now that I’ve been fired, is there a problem with me collecting my salary for this month? I’m already being nice by not asking for severance pay.” Tiffany glared at the young girl in front of me: “How much is his salary?” The finance girl answered honestly: “One hundred thousand and five hundred dollars.” Tiffany’s face immediately changed: “How much?” After the finance girl repeated it, she pointed at me and said: “You violated company rules by being late, so your salary for this month is forfeited.” I laughed coldly: “A $200 deduction for each tardiness, is that how you calculate? Did you even graduate elementary school?” To my surprise, Tiffany looked at me righteously: “It’s a new rule I made. Three tardies and your whole month’s salary is gone. Now get out!”

“What right do you have to make rules?” Tiffany crossed her arms, her mouth gaping like a shark, shamelessly saying: “I’ll have a share in this company in the future. What’s wrong with me making rules?” I couldn’t be bothered to argue with her: “Then you can expect a lawsuit from me.” With that, I strode out. I drove home and had just put my things away when I saw a group message from Tiffany in the company SnapChat group that I hadn’t left yet. “From now on, everyone must reply to any messages I post on SnapChat or WhatsApp. Those who don’t reply will be fired like that person today.” It seems she really fired me because I didn’t join in praising her. The boss really hit the jackpot with this girlfriend of his. Everyone started replying to the group message. I found it annoying and simply left all the groups. My phone suddenly became much quieter. However, since Tiffany wouldn’t let me take my last month’s salary, I decided to teach her a lesson. All the important clients were saved in my contacts, so I sent out a mass message to these clients, basically saying that I had resigned and would no longer be handling business for the company. Most of these people were clients I had brought in, and they were mainly working with the company because of me. If I left, they would likely follow me. Sure enough, within two minutes, former clients started messaging me, asking which company I had gone to and expressing their willingness to transfer their contracts. I explained the situation to each of them, saying that I hadn’t found a new job yet, but I would contact them as soon as I did. There were so many clients on my contact list that I kept replying until it got dark, and finally fell asleep from exhaustion. When I woke up the next day, a colleague had sent me a message: “Boss, many of our business partners are saying they want to terminate their cooperation and won’t renew their contracts. Was this your doing?” It seems the plan had worked. I chuckled: “I didn’t do anything. I just told them the fact that I’m no longer working there.” “You’re still the best, boss. When Tiffany came in this morning and heard about this, she blew up at several salespeople, demanding to know why they couldn’t retain the clients. Now several salespeople are planning to quit, saying they won’t put up with this crap.” It seems quite a few people in the company were unhappy with Tiffany. I wondered how she would handle the fallout. On my end, I was preparing to contact a lawyer to file a major lawsuit to get my salary back. After all, I didn’t really need the money, but I couldn’t let her off easy. Unexpectedly, after just a few days, Tiffany called me. I was surprised and answered uncertainly: “What is it?” As soon as I picked up, I was met with a barrage of abuse from the other end. “Jack Wilson, are you even human? I’m asking you, where did all the company’s client contacts go? They said you have them all. Give me those phone numbers right now. That’s company property. Don’t think I won’t sue you!” I was stunned for a moment, then realized that Tiffany must be getting desperate. “How can you be so disgusting? Give me the client contacts right now! Or I swear I’ll destroy you, you believe me?”

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I was born with a unique crimson mark between my brows, a sign of a rare and profound destiny. To save Marcus Thorne, the frail, only heir of the Thorne family, I used the power of my crimson birthmark to ward off his misfortunes. He not only recovered completely but also rose to become the top business magnate in the city’s elite circles. He called me his destined ‘crimson mark,’ the irreplaceable one meant for him. Everyone in the elite circles said I was the happiest woman alive. But in our third year of marriage, he became utterly obsessed with a college student. She wore a delicate, moon-white lace dress, with a striking painted crimson dot between her brows, smiling at him like a blossoming flower. That single image mesmerized Marcus, making him completely forget me, who had dedicated countless hours praying and seeking blessings for him every single day. He pursued her relentlessly and finally, after she became pregnant, he brought his new love home. When I confronted him, he casually said, “You can understand my desire for a child, Elara. You owe me this.” I didn’t cry or make a scene, because I knew he wouldn’t live much longer. In just one month, the power of my crimson mark would no longer be able to contain his fate. Once the fetus fully formed, his destiny would violently turn against him… … My phone screen buzzed with breaking news headlines popping up one after another. # Elite’s New Money King, Marcus Thorne, and His Co-ed Spotted at Hospital! # # CONFIRMED!!! Marcus Thorne’s College Girlfriend Is Pregnant! # The kitchen knife in my hand clattered to the floor. My foot instantly bled, a gash gaping open on my instep. The maids rushed over, one stemming the blood while shouting for the driver to take me to the hospital. “Madam, the cut is too deep, you must get it treated at the hospital.” “Don’t worry, I’ll have dinner ready on time. It won’t delay your and Mr. Thorne’s third wedding anniversary celebration tonight.” I looked at the dishes laid out on the counter, all Marcus’s favorites, and a self-deprecating smile touched my lips. My eyes burned, and tears streamed down uncontrollably. “No need.” I stood up and headed to the hospital. Due to an anesthesia allergy, I bit down hard, enduring the pain as the doctor stitched up my wound. Then my phone suddenly rang. I answered, and Lila Monroe’s sobbing voice came through the receiver. “Elara, you need to come to Metropolitan Medical Center now.” Marcus’s voice was filled with frantic urgency. A calling number echoed through the hospital lobby. The voice on the other end paused, then spoke again. “You’re at the hospital?” “Perfect. Hurry up and come to the eighth floor. We’re here.” He hung up before I could say a word. Looking at the disconnected call, my heart went cold and trembled. When did his eyes stop seeing me? Having endured years of suffering from illness, he knew the agony of pain all too well. That’s why he was always so protective, couldn’t bear to see me hurt in the slightest. Once, when my high heels chafed my skin, he spared no expense, hiring the world’s most renowned designers just to create custom-fit shoes for me. And now, hearing I was in the hospital, he only thought about how quickly I could come to their rescue. I closed my eyes, quietly considering my options. My promise to Eleanor was fulfilled. Since Marcus no longer needed me, it was time for me to make my exit. As I struggled to force my injured foot into my shoe, several urgent messages already popped up on my phone. As soon as I reached the eighth floor, I saw security guards blocking a crowd of reporters at one end of the corridor. When they saw me appear, everyone swarmed towards me frantically. “Mrs. Thorne, what are your thoughts on Mr. Thorne’s affair with a college student?” “Mrs. Thorne, are you here to catch him in the act?” “Mrs. Thorne, is your foot injured because of Mr. Thorne?” “Mrs. Thorne…” My heart felt like it was seized by a giant hand, and pain instantly assaulted every part of my body, leaving me breathless. So that was why Marcus wanted me on the eighth floor. To use me as a distraction for the reporters, allowing him to slip away with Lila Monroe. I was packed in so tightly, the flashing lights made me dizzy. Reporters surged forward, pushing and shoving. I lost my footing and tumbled down the stairs. The scene erupted into chaos. In the second before I lost consciousness, I saw Marcus carefully shielding Lila Monroe behind him as they entered another elevator. He didn’t even glance my way. When I woke up again, a sharp pain flared between my brows. My eyes focused, and I realized I was lying in a hospital bed. The worried driver stood beside the bed. “Mr. Thorne said you should rest well. He’ll be over once he’s done with his work.” I scoffed inwardly. Completely absorbed in the joy of impending fatherhood, why would he be distracted by anything else? 2 The high fever plunged me in and out of consciousness. When I truly woke up, three days had passed. The driver had long been called back. Marcus’s chat window on my phone was still stuck on his terse message from three days ago: “Hurry!” My SnapChat was flooded with messages from friends. Only then did I learn that for the past three days, Marcus had booked out a private hospital in the suburbs to care for a startled Lila Monroe, staying by her side constantly. As I turned off my phone, my reflection appeared on the screen. The crimson mark on my forehead had faded even more. After being discharged and returning to the mansion, the main gate stood open. Maids hurried in and out, carrying luggage. Seeing me return, their eyes were filled with pity. It wasn’t until I saw Marcus cooing over Lila Monroe, coaxing her to eat fruit, that I understood where that pity came from. Seeing me enter, Marcus quickly waved me over. “Elara, you’re back just in time. Come tell Lila how good avocado is for pregnant women.” “I’ve been trying to coax her for ages, but she still won’t eat it. You’re the best at persuasion; even I didn’t want to eat it back then until you convinced me.” Yes, once, I gave my all for him. I heard avocado was a superfood, but he couldn’t stand its smell. I patiently coaxed him to eat a little every day, hoping he’d be healthier. But now, he was using the same tactics to coax another woman, completely oblivious to my limping foot. Only sarcasm remained in my heart. Perhaps my expression was too grim, for Marcus paused, then put down the avocado and walked towards me. “Elara, you know I love you deeply, but I really want a child, a child like you and me.” “Look closely at Lila, doesn’t she resemble you?” I stared at him in shock, unable to believe what I was hearing. Marcus’s eyes flickered nervously, then he impatiently said, “I know you’re going to talk about my fate of being childless again, but I don’t believe it. Look, haven’t I found a way now?” I lowered my head and smiled soundlessly. Since you insist on going down this dark path, I won’t stop you. Three years ago, to repay Eleanor Thorne’s kindness, I married Marcus Thorne when he was gravely ill. I used the crimson mark between my brows to seal away his misfortunes, but the cost was my inability to conceive, for he was fated to be childless. If that fate were defied, Marcus would be violently consumed by destiny. “As you wish.” With that, I walked directly upstairs. Next to the master bedroom, my private sanctuary had been emptied and converted into Lila Monroe’s room. The handwritten blessings I’d copied for him, filled with wishes for his well-being, were strewn haphazardly in the corridor, like forgotten trash. For three years, countless days and nights, I had knelt in that sanctuary, copying each stroke for him. Now, I felt like the biggest fool. And so, I truly laughed, tears streaming down my face, uncontrollably. Hearing the noise, Marcus rushed over, carefully shielding Lila Monroe, as if worried I might lash out. “Sister Elara, please don’t be angry, I’ll move my things out right away.” Lila Monroe spoke timidly, already moving to go inside and move her belongings. But Marcus pulled her tightly into his arms, glaring at me with a furious frown. “I told her to stay here. This room gets good sunlight, it’s suitable for a pregnant woman.” I nodded knowingly, wiping away my tears. “I understand!” I tossed all the handwritten blessings into the trash bin and turned to my room. I quickly packed my luggage—just one small suitcase, exactly as it had been when I arrived. I planned to return to my grandmother’s place first thing tomorrow morning. That night, I felt someone gently caressing my forehead, murmuring words in my ear, but I was caught in a nightmare and couldn’t wake up. Suddenly, my phone rang, jolting me awake from my dream. “Elara, your grandmother isn’t well! Come home quickly!” Brenda Miller’s anxious voice came through the phone from my hometown. It was so late; I had no choice but to ask Marcus for help. Crying and frantic, I scrambled up and rushed to knock on the door next door. Finally, Marcus, yawning, emerged from Lila Monroe’s room, his face etched with displeasure. Ignoring his mood, I grabbed his hand, weeping. “Marcus, please, please take me back to my grandmother’s place.” “My grandma is sick.” A flicker of surprise crossed his eyes. He paused, then turned to settle Lila Monroe. Only then did he grab his car keys to drive me back to my hometown. Outside, lightning flashed and thunder rumbled; a heavy rainstorm was clearly brewing. My heart ached with worry for Grandma, leaving me restless. Marcus drove, his hand tightly gripping mine. “Don’t worry too much, Grandma will be fine.” We had barely gotten onto the highway when the torrential rain began to pour. Then Marcus’s phone rang. The Bluetooth automatically connected, filling the car with Lila Monroe’s desperate sobs. “Mr. Thorne, save me! Your grandmother… she’s trying to force me to lose our baby…” 3 A cacophony of voices erupted from the phone, then the call was abruptly cut off. Marcus dialed back repeatedly, but no one answered. He kept redialing, becoming increasingly agitated. I looked at the heavy rain outside, worried about driving safety, and gently warned him, “Everything will be fine. Just focus on driving for now.” As I spoke, Marcus seemed to remember something suddenly. He turned to me, his eyes like shards of ice. “It was you!” “You and Grandma conspired, didn’t you?” “You lured me out, so Grandma could go after Lila.” He slammed on the brakes, stopping the car abruptly in the middle of the highway, speaking through clenched teeth. “What a cunning move you cooked up.” “Elara, how could you be so heartless? And you claim to be some kind of saint, a benevolent soul? How can you not tolerate a small innocent life?” As he spoke, he reached out and grabbed my throat, his eyes bloodshot, demanding answers. He squeezed harder and harder. I couldn’t make a sound, only frantically tried to pull his hand away. Just as I felt I was about to black out, the crimson in his eyes gradually faded. He scoffed and got out of the car. He dragged me, coughing violently, from the passenger seat and threw me onto the highway. “Remember this! I can’t stand being deceived!” With that, he turned, got back into the car, and was about to drive away. I struggled to my feet, desperately hitting the car window, trying to explain. “Marcus, it wasn’t me! I really don’t know anything!” Marcus rolled down the window, his eyes filled with disgust. “You’d better pray Lila is alright, or I swear, I won’t let you off the hook.” He rolled up the window, hit the gas, and did a U-turn right on the highway. I was flung several feet, tumbling along the asphalt, but he didn’t even look back, driving out of my sight. My phone was still in his car. Standing on the highway without a penny to my name, I was filled with despair. I tried to flag down passing cars, but no one dared to stop for a disheveled woman on a stormy highway at night. Helpless, I limped for five hours, dragging my bruised body, until I finally reached the nearest service area. With the help of the police, I finally made it back to my grandmother’s place. But in the end, I never saw Grandma one last time. I quietly handled Grandma’s funeral arrangements alone. To everyone’s questions about “why the grandson-in-law didn’t return,” I simply smiled. I bought a new phone in town. The moment I inserted the SIM card, messages started pouring in. Two unread messages from Marcus’s profile picture. Every single word pierced my heart. “Good thing Lila is okay. You should learn your lesson, and stop complaining to Grandma.” “Lila is young, and she’s been through a lot of fright this time. I’ll come back to see Grandma after I’ve calmed her down.” I blinked hard, trying to keep the tears from falling. I glanced at Grandma’s portrait in the living room, then replied directly with, “No need.” My phone rang. “Eleanor Thorne” flashed across the screen. “Elara, I just heard about your grandmother…” “I’m so sorry, Elara, and I’m so sorry for your grandma too!” Eleanor Thorne’s voice, full of remorse, came through the phone. Tears fell like broken pearls, impossible to wipe away. I choked out, “Eleanor, please, just let me go. Grant me this freedom.” “Elara, you can’t give up on Marcus! He truly won’t survive without you.” “I know he acted like a jerk and hurt you. But don’t worry, I’ll fix this mistake quickly.” I let out a soft laugh. “It’s too late.” I had counted the days. In three days, the fetus would be three months old. It was the seventh day since Grandma’s passing, and according to tradition, Grandma’s ashes were to be enshrined at The Serenity Monastery atop the mountain. It happened to be the monastery’s monthly communal prayer and meditation session, so the place was bustling. I saw Marcus, whom I hadn’t seen in days. He was standing among the college volunteer group, carefully protecting Lila Monroe, who was doing volunteer work. 4 He held an umbrella over her to shield her from the sun, periodically offered her water, and gently wiped the sweat from her temples. The surrounding students cast envious glances at them. Whispers filled the air. “Wow, he’s the epitome of a good man. I want to find a man like that someday.” “Lila Monroe is so lucky. Even if she’s the other woman, I hear she’s about to become the official wife.” “He’s such a great catch, I’d be willing to be the other woman too.” … I shook my head, carrying Grandma’s urn into the main hall. After the ceremony, as I prepared to place Grandma’s urn in the columbarium, A pair of hands suddenly reached out. Before I could even see who it was, I felt my hand lighten, Then I heard Lila Monroe shriek. *Crash!* The urn hit the ground with a heavy thud, shattering into pieces, and the grey-white ashes scattered everywhere. “I’m so sorry! I… I’m so sorry!” “I just wanted to help, I’ll clean it up right away.” Lila Monroe frantically tried to scoop up the ashes, only making a bigger mess. I trembled with rage, unable to bear it any longer. I slapped her across the face. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?” Lila Monroe clutched her cheek, looking utterly wronged. “I didn’t!” “The columbarium is part of my volunteer duties today, I just wanted to help! How could you just hit me?” Marcus appeared from somewhere, pulling the tear-streaked Lila Monroe into his embrace. His eyes, when he looked at me, were like shards of ice. “So what if an urn got broken? Was it really worth hitting someone over it?” I snapped my head up, my fingertips trembling uncontrollably. Heartbreak and despair surged through me again. “So what if an urn got broken?” “Marcus Thorne, are you even human?” Marcus clearly flinched. In three years of marriage, I had never said a harsh word to him, always gentle and poised. Perhaps my gaze had startled him. He softened his tone slightly. “Lila didn’t mean it.” “I can pay for it!” With that, he pulled out his checkbook from his inner suit pocket, and with a flourish, he signed a number and handed it to me. “Is that enough?” Looking at the check he offered, my heart felt like it was being squeezed by an invisible hand, the pain so intense I could barely breathe. Seeing me hesitate to take it, he frowned slightly, then tore off another check and wrote a new number. “Not enough?” His tone was so cold, as if he were merely discussing a business transaction. “What about this then?” The amounts grew larger and larger, but my heart grew colder and colder. Finally, I took the last check, and with all my strength, I said, “It’s enough.” Not just this check was enough… *We*, were enough! With that, I turned to clean up the ashes, but before I could, Marcus’s icy voice came from behind me. “Stop.” I paused, raising my eyes to him. “I’ve paid for the urn. Now it’s your turn to apologize!” I stared at him, my voice trembling as I said, “What if I don’t?” Marcus pulled Lila Monroe’s wrist, “Don’t be afraid. Hit her back.” My pupils constricted. Before I could react, I saw Marcus’s well-defined knuckles wrap around Lila’s hand, swiftly swinging towards me. *Slap!* My cheek stung, burning hot all the way to my scalp. But the physical pain was nothing compared to the agony in my heart, which felt like a gaping hole, hollow and whistling with wind. Marcus tenderly wiped away Lila Monroe’s tears with his thumb. “Feel better now?” After hearing Lila’s tearful “Mm,” he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and turned to leave. A sharp pain shot through my forehead, and a wave of dizziness swept over me. I collapsed weakly to the ground. In the distance, Marcus suddenly clutched his chest, his face turning ashen. 5 When I woke again, I was lying in a meditation room at the monastery, the pain in my forehead making me frown. I grabbed my phone from the bedside table. On the screen, the crimson mark on my forehead had faded to barely visible.

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My sister, Holly, claimed she was throwing me a bachelorette party the day before my wedding. But instead, she drugged the drink I was holding. By the time I finally woke up and rushed to the wedding venue, Holly stood beside Dax Davies, wearing my wedding dress. They seemed completely unfazed by my arrival. Dax actually said, right in front of all the guests, “Holly and I… we were intimate last night. She was a virgin, and for her honor, I have to marry her.” “Audrey, you were never a virgin when we were together, so I’m choosing Holly. I’m sorry.” In my past life, disgusted by their sleazy acts, I ended up trashing the wedding. Holly grabbed my neck, forcing me to push her away. Then she clutched her stomach, wailing, “Dax’s baby, my three hundred million dollar baby! I could have had his child, Audrey! Why did you kill them?!” It was such an outrageous lie, but Dax actually believed her. He ordered his bodyguards to attack me, specifically targeting my stomach, to avenge his supposed babies. My internal organs ruptured, bleeding profusely, and I died right there at the wedding venue. When I opened my eyes again, I was back to the day before my wedding. Holly gripped my sleeve, whining sweetly, “Good sister, Holly prepared a bachelorette party for you tonight~” … Holly’s hand clenched my sleeve, swaying it gently. I’d even paid for the manicure she had on those hands. Yet, in my past life, it was these very hands that pushed me into the abyss of death. Seeing her feign such sisterly affection again, my stomach churned. “Oh, really? A party my dear sister arranged? How could I possibly miss it?” I still chose to agree with a smile. The party was set at Dax Davies’s villa. I’d overlooked that detail in my previous life. Now, thinking back, they had clearly been entangled for a long time. After some idle chatter, Holly presented the cocktail that had knocked me out in my last life. “Audrey, this is a special blend I had a top mixologist make, it symbolizes new beginnings! Drink this, and tomorrow you’ll officially be Mrs. Davies.” I didn’t take it. Instead, I burst out laughing. “Oh, perfect! Absolutely brilliant! Holly, you really think you can play me for a fool!” “Whose new beginning? Yours and Dax’s? Drugging me the day before my wedding—what exactly are you planning?!” The room instantly fell silent. Everyone clustered around, their faces etched with confusion. Holly’s smile froze. She hadn’t expected me to expose her. But she’s a conniving snake. She immediately put on a pitiful act, her voice dripping with fake innocence, “Audrey, what are you talking about?” “I know you’ve never liked me, Audrey, and you especially hate that Dax and I are close.” “But you can’t just accuse me of having bad intentions! I put so much effort into this bachelorette party, I…” She sounded genuinely choked up, dabbing at her eyes. Holly assumed that with such a performance, everyone at the party would side with her. But she had severely miscalculated my standing with the others. Bianca Sterling, from the powerful Sterling family, spoke first. “Holly, why the waterworks? If there’s a problem, just say it. Whether there’s drugs in the drink? A quick test will tell us.” Noah Sterling, the family heir, also frowned. “Everyone here knows Audrey’s character. I don’t believe she’d accuse her own sister without reason.” The rest of the guests murmured in agreement. Holly’s jaw dropped. She was clearly stunned. I curled my lips into a smirk and said to Holly, “No need for a test, it’s too much trouble. Why don’t you drink it yourself, sister? I’m getting married tomorrow, so I shouldn’t drink. You won’t be getting married tomorrow, right? Since you claim there’s no drug, then drink it!” Panic flashed across Holly’s face. Of course, she wouldn’t dare to drink it. Not only would she be exposed, but her wedding to Dax tomorrow would also be ruined. She feigned a look of indignant shame, her hands trembling violently. “Audrey! How can you slander my name?!” Holly shouted, drawing everyone’s attention, and subtly let go of the glass. Just as the glass was about to hit the floor, I instinctively snatched it mid-air. “What are you doing? After all the effort you put into finding a mixologist, you’re just going to drop it?” “Or is there something in this glass that shouldn’t see the light of day?” 2 The guests looked at Holly with even more suspicion. Holly quickly tried to explain that it was an accident. My tone turned cold. “Since my dear sister is too afraid to drink it, I’ll take Bianca’s advice and have someone test the drink’s contents.” I had just pulled out my phone, still typing a message, when Holly completely freaked out. “Audrey! I didn’t prepare this drink! Dax told me to give it to you! Even if there’s something in it, he put it there, I swear I knew nothing!” I stared at her heaving chest, a laugh escaping my lips. What a brilliant lie! Pushing Dax out as the scapegoat. It not only diverted attention but also tested how much I really knew. I suddenly leaned closer to her. “You’re saying he gave you this drink? So you’re admitting that both of you conspired to drug me, right here in my own villa?” You have to admit, Holly’s manipulative game was not simple. Faced with my question, she found a new angle, her voice dripping with fake innocence. “Holly truly didn’t know. Could it be that Dax has a problem with you, Audrey? Don’t be sad, sister, let’s go ask him.” “I did hear Dax say that your private life was a mess before you two got together, and that you claimed to be a virgin, but you didn’t… bleed.” She wanted to humiliate me in public. But I just watched her coldly, waiting for her to finish. Dax was my first love. The whole ‘virginity’ thing? That was pure nonsense. I was athletic since I was a child, so my hymen broke a long time ago. It never mattered. And honestly, in the 21st century, caring whether a girl is a virgin? That kind of man is utterly repulsive. “Holly, I already know about your despicable acts with Dax. There’s no need to put on a show for me.” “Because I simply don’t care about either of you. I won’t be attending tomorrow’s wedding.” “I’m not a trash can, and I don’t like garbage. You want Dax? Go ahead, take him.” Holly’s pupils suddenly dilated. She couldn’t believe that I was abandoning the wedding the day before. Then, I smirked contemptuously. “And don’t worry about public opinion. Who cares if people talk? Go ahead and get married. I’ll be getting married tomorrow too.” I gestured with my chin towards Noah Sterling in the crowd. “Noah, can you give me a wedding grander than the Davies family’s?” The room became even quieter. Everyone stared at Noah. He looked like he’d won the lottery, his face flushed purple with excitement. “Audrey, you… you’re willing to marry me?” He took a necklace from his neck. It was a family heirloom from the Sterling family’s great-grandmother, with a pigeon’s blood ruby ring hanging from the chain. “Audrey, I never thought I’d live to see this day.” Noah knelt on one knee, holding up the ring. “I’m going to make you the most prestigious bride in the city’s elite! I’m going to wipe the Davies family off the map!” News of my sudden engagement to the Sterling family spread like wildfire through every corner of the city’s elite overnight. By 3 AM, the headlines were filled with it. Dax Davies declared that his wedding would proceed as planned tomorrow, marrying my sister, Holly. He also boasted that no wedding in the city’s elite would be grander than the Davies’s. The Sterling family retaliated sharply, announcing that their wedding would indeed outshine the Davies’s, and that from this day forward, the Sterling family would cut all business ties with the Davies family. Other influential families were forced to choose sides. Anyone associated with the Davies family would be blacklisted. The comments section buzzed. Some questioned if I was just a rebound, dumped by Dax. Others called Noah a “rebound guy.” Still others bet that the Sterling wedding would surely be smaller, given they only had one night to prepare. I sneered, put away my phone, and continued packing my belongings from Dax’s villa. It wasn’t that these things were particularly valuable, but the thought of any item I had used remaining in Dax’s house just made my skin crawl. While I was busy, Holly suddenly burst in with some of Dax’s housekeepers. “Audrey, you have so much stuff.” “But since you’re marrying into the Sterling family, you don’t need all this, right?” “Dax said his villa can’t have anything that doesn’t belong to the Davies family. So, including you, I’ve had them help throw everything out.” 3 As she spoke, she waved her hand, and the housekeepers immediately began carelessly tossing my cosmetics, clothes, and jewelry. Even my intimate apparel was strewn everywhere. I watched Holly’s performance with a cold gaze. The items themselves weren’t worth much, but the humiliation? I would ensure he paid for it a hundredfold, sooner or later. “Holly.” “Do you know what you look like right now?” “Like a wild dog that stole a bone.” Though we were sisters, strictly speaking, I had practically raised Holly. She’d been my shadow for twenty years, and I’d protected her for twenty years. What had I done wrong for her to hate me so deeply, without a shred of mercy? Holly’s smile froze. “In the Davies house, daring to curse the Davies’s mistress? Guards! Throw her out!” Two housekeepers stepped forward, grabbing me roughly and dragging me towards the exit. Just then, the front doors of Dax’s villa burst open. Noah Sterling charged in with over a dozen bodyguards in black suits. Seeing my intimate apparel scattered on the floor, his usually gentle face instantly contorted with rage. “Audrey’s belongings? Do you really think you can just toss them around?!” “Anyone who dares to touch another item, I’ll break their limbs!” The Davies’s housekeepers froze, daring not to move. At that moment, Dax Davies also appeared with a dozen men. He looked at Noah and me, sneering, “Noah, marrying discarded trash I’ve slept with, and you’re still this arrogant? Anyone would think I’m the one marrying Audrey, that piece of trash!” Ten years of my life, my first love, and he so casually humiliated me. “Dax Davies,” I stared at him coldly. “You will regret everything you’ve done today.” Dax dismissed me with a sneer. “Trash, do you really think siding with the Sterling family will allow you to go against me? The Davies family’s position in the city’s elite…” “Position?” I suddenly laughed. “Everyone in the city’s elite knows that your Davies family is just a lapdog I casually raised.” “Now, get on your knees and beg me, and I might just make you disappear from the elite circles, sparing the Davies family. Otherwise…” Dax arrogantly lifted his head. “Looks like you’re too heartbroken, starting to talk nonsense. In my eyes, your Sterling family is just a clown. And you, Audrey Ruo, are an ant. Get out of here, fast! You’re the ones who will disappear from the elite circles!” Noah leaned closer, taking my hand. “Forget it, Audrey. You protected him too well, that’s why he knows nothing. Let that fool be happy for now. Tomorrow, he’ll see how he dies!” The Sterling family mansion was lit up all night, with everyone bustling to prepare for the next day’s wedding. Dax Davies, despite his bluster, didn’t dare to slack either. He urgently increased his wedding budget, demanding everything be as extravagant as possible. The Sterling family even specifically booked their wedding hotel at the same location as the Davies family. This spectacle spread across the entire internet. The city’s paparazzi and influencers flocked to the hotel street by 4 AM, ready to livestream. The next day, when I woke up, Noah was already dressed in a tailored suit, looking like a prince from a storybook. “Audrey, everything is ready. We can leave now.” “I promise, today, the Davies family will lose face completely!” The wedding motorcade set off for the hotel street—a solid line of stretch limousines that seemed to stretch endlessly, along with countless other luxury cars. The Sterling and Davies motorcades met on the street in front of the hotel, turning the entire road into a parking lot. Since neither lead car would yield, no one could drive forward. Dax Davies’s Rolls-Royce blocked the middle of the road. He rolled down his window and smirked at me. “Audrey Ruo, can’t compete with the Davies family, so you’re playing childish games like this traffic jam?” “Guests will be arriving in twenty minutes. You wouldn’t want the entire city’s elite to laugh at both families, would you?” “I advise you to be smart. I might consider being more lenient with you in the future!” I didn’t even look at him. Instead, I pulled out my phone and made a call. “Five minutes. Get all the Davies family’s people to clear out.” Dax thought I was talking to him and cursed, “Are you crazy? My Davies family will retreat just because you say so? Who do you think you are?!” However, it didn’t even take five minutes. The very next second, the phones of all the Davies motorcade drivers suddenly rang, simultaneously. They answered one by one, their faces draining of color. One bald driver immediately started backing his car up. Dax raged, “Are you trying to die?! What are you doing?!” The driver called out to Dax, “Mr. Davies, I’m so sorry, my mother just got admitted to the hospital. I have to go back…” He sped off before finishing his sentence. Then came the second car, the third, even Dax’s own driver turned to them and said, “Mr. Davies, Mrs. Davies, if you could both please step out. I just got a call from the hospital; my wife’s in labor and there are complications, I really have to go…” Holly shrieked in anger, “You wouldn’t dare! This is the lead car! If you leave, what about my wedding?!” But the driver didn’t care. He had already started the car and was backing away. Dax, seeing the situation was dire, had no choice but to get out with Holly, watching his car drive away. The Davies motorcade, which had been so bustling moments ago, instantly vanished. This scene was captured by an influencer on the roadside and immediately went viral. “OMG! You guys, when those phones rang, it was like something out of a movie! The scale was insane!” “Looking at this, the Sterlings are seriously powerful. The Davies family seems like nothing?!” “You have no idea! Only one person in this city’s elite can pull off something like this! The powerful Ms. Ruo, whom no one dares to offend!” Dax Davies also realized it. He gritted his teeth, glaring at me. “Audrey Ruo, when did you get involved with Ms. Ruo?! This is too much! No mercy at all? Aren’t you afraid the Davies family will fight you to the death?!” 4 “Audrey Ruo, tell me the truth. What tactics did you use to convince the powerful Ms. Ruo?” Dax was still bothered by it. When we were together, he didn’t know my identity. He often said he would definitely gain Ms. Ruo’s appreciation in the future. Back then, I found him somewhat endearing.

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My daughter was bullied at school. My husband, Alex Thorne, rushed over to handle it. The bully was suspended. I felt the punishment was too light, so I escalated it to the school board. Eventually, the bully was expelled. But the very next day, my daughter, Lily, mysteriously disappeared. I cried myself to sleep every night, and Alex searched for her relentlessly. It wasn’t until a month later that I saw my daughter in the Thorne family’s private bullfighting arena. Her small face was deathly pale, and she was clutching her knees tightly. I cried and knelt, begging Alex to let Lily out. But he was embracing Vanessa Hayes, the bully’s mother, his expression icy cold. “Lily being bullied is all because you spoil her too much. She can’t even handle a little pain. This bullfighting match is just what she needs to toughen her up!” With no hope left, I trembled as I dialed a number. “If you can save my daughter, I’ll marry you.” … I had just hung up. In the center of the arena, another bull charged past, grazing Lily’s clothes. She staggered backward. My vision blurred, and I almost collapsed to the ground. “Relax, no one’s going to die.” A cold voice came from behind me. “There are professionals guiding her in there. They know what they’re doing better than you do.” I spun around. Alex’s hand was resting on Vanessa’s waist, his sharp gaze piercing me. “Vanessa already has it hard raising a child alone, yet you had to go and report her to the school board just because your daughter got a little scratch!” “You’re both mothers. Why can’t you be more understanding of Vanessa?” I screamed, my voice raw. “A little scratch…? Multiple fractures are a little scratch?! If I hadn’t found her clothes covered in blood while doing laundry, Lily would have never told me!” Alex fell silent. I knelt on the rough sand, clutching his coat desperately, tears streaming down my face. “Please, I’m begging you, let Lily out. She’s the child we tried so hard to have…” His eyes flickered with a momentary haze. I had struggled with infertility, and the day I finally got pregnant was a miracle. He, who never believed in fate, had vowed to give up everything for her safety, just for me and Lily to be safe. How could the man who once treasured me and our child above all else change so much? I opened my mouth to say more, but my palm vibrated. “Give me fifteen minutes.” Alex stared at my movement, then suddenly sneered. “What? Going to call my mother and complain again?” He grabbed my wrist, his grip so strong it felt like he might crush my bones. “Last time, you tricked me away and then arranged for someone to almost ruin Vanessa’s reputation. I haven’t settled that score with you yet!” “I’m telling you, not even God himself can get her out today!” Then, he roughly flung my hand away. I stood frozen, my lips trembling as I spoke. “Those private photos… you sent them out?” Alex’s face was cold, and he didn’t reply. But my heart died. During that time, I would walk down the street, and people would hurl insults and even objects at me for no reason. At my company, they used ‘morality’ as an excuse to fire me. Even now, just thinking about it sends a deep, icy chill through my bones. But now, he was telling me that my own husband did all of this? My head snapped to the side. Lily’s clothes were already torn and tattered. A bull charged straight at her. Lily screamed and fell backward onto the ground. Her arm was gashed, a line of blood appearing. I desperately closed my eyes for a moment. When I spoke again, there was no trace of affection left. “Let her out. I’ll take her and leave right now. You can have your perfect little family of three!” I ran towards the bullfighting arena, but a bodyguard kicked my knee and pinned my shoulders down. Grit dug into my skin, but I felt no pain. Alex’s face was filled with rage. “There are still five minutes left until the show is over. Lily’s fine, isn’t she?” “Your overprotective love is spoiling her. You stay right here until the end!” Just then, Vanessa’s voice came over. “Alex, the school called! Caleb accidentally scraped his knee while playing games!” Alex instantly panicked. “How could he be so careless? We need to go see him right now.” How ridiculous. He was showering concern on another woman’s child, rushing to play the doting father. But he left his own flesh and blood to die in the bullfighting arena. After a few steps, he suddenly turned back and instructed coldly. “Keep an eye on her. Don’t let her in until the bullfighting ends!” However, barely a minute after he left. The bullfighting arena suddenly spun out of control. In the swirling dust, a small figure was violently flung by a raging bull, blood instantly staining the sand. 2 “Lily—!!!” The scream was gut-wrenching. I bit the bodyguard’s arm like a madwoman, stumbling forward. Just as the bodyguard behind me was about to grab me, an arm blocked him. Seeing the person who had arrived, I grabbed onto him like a drowning woman clutches a lifeline. “Please, save my child!” Seeing Lily collapsed in a pool of blood, his pupils constricted sharply, and he roared. “Stop the show! Open the gates!” Damon Blackwood rushed into the arena like an arrow, carefully picked up Lily, and took her to the hospital. Even after Lily was taken into the emergency room, I hadn’t fully recovered, staring at the bloodstains on my clothes, my eyes vacant. Half an hour later, the doctor came out and shook his head at me. “The family should prepare for her final arrangements…” Suddenly, the world spun around me. Damon Blackwood quickly steadied my swaying body. A familiar voice suddenly echoed in my ears. “Does it still hurt? Big boys don’t cry, okay? I bought you the latest game console.” I turned my head and saw Alex. In his other hand, he was carrying a small cake, one Lily loved. The fatherly love Lily never received, not even in death, was now effortlessly given to someone else. How dare he act so happily by another child’s side? Didn’t he know Lily was dead?! Had he worried about Lily for even a second? Just as I rushed over to confront him. “If I hadn’t taken the time for a check-up, I wouldn’t have known I was going to be a dad.” My steps halted abruptly. Dad…? “Alex, I know you have a daughter, and I don’t expect you to dedicate yourself entirely to her, but I hope you won’t let her be bullied…” A flicker of disgust crossed Alex’s eyes. “I will take good care of her.” I bit my lip so hard I tasted blood. Our daughter was dead. Yet, he was joyfully preparing to welcome a new life. How ironic. He didn’t deserve to be Lily’s father! Suddenly, my vision went black, and a large hand covered my eyes. A comforting voice whispered in my ear. “I’m here.” I leaned against his shoulder, hot tears streaming down my face. After handling Lily’s funeral, I returned to the old family estate. “I’m sorry, Mrs. Thorne. I can’t continue to repay the kindness you’ve shown me.” Mrs. Eleanor Thorne’s rough hand covered mine. “I’ve heard everything. Alex truly went too far… Is Lily alright?” I lowered my lashes, looking at the small, square box in my hand. Mrs. Thorne finally sighed. “It seems I can’t keep you here. Stay and have one last meal with this old woman, won’t you?” I nodded. That evening, Alex brought Vanessa and her son over. Seeing me sitting alone on the sofa. He spoke lightly. “Where’s Lily? She’s not mad at me, is she?” “Vanessa told me the bullfighting show ended safely. You just spoil the child too much. Looks like she needs more training in the future.” The thought of Lily lying in my arms, barely breathing as she called for ‘Mommy,’ made my chest feel like it was crushed by a boulder. Every breath was a stab of pain. “From now on, however you want to train her, I won’t be involved…” Alex seemed to think I had given in, and a satisfied smile spread across his face. He walked over and took my hand. “Whenever our daughter is ready to see me, I, as her father, will be the first to apologize.” I shook off his hand and walked straight to the dining table. Alex frowned, about to get angry, but he was interrupted by Mrs. Thorne’s piercing voice from the living room. “Who let you in? Get out!” Alex quickly shielded Vanessa and her son behind him. “Mom, I brought them.” Mrs. Thorne’s chest heaved with anger. “Do you know that your daughter…” I pulled on Mrs. Thorne’s sleeve. I was afraid that telling the truth would only lead to more humiliation. But Alex’s eyes changed, rapidly transforming from panic into blatant disgust. “Sarah Reed! You’re really trying to stir up trouble with my mom again, aren’t you?!” “I just brought them over for dinner. If you cause any more drama, we’re getting a divorce!” 3 Mrs. Thorne tiredly shook her head. “Never mind, never mind. I’m not getting involved.” At dawn, I tossed and turned, unable to sleep. Usually, around this time, Lily would insist on taking a walk with me. She didn’t really love walking; she just wanted to be the first to see her dad when he came home from work. Driven by an impulse, I walked to the backyard garden. A dark figure was squatting by the pool. By the moonlight, I saw it was Vanessa’s son, Caleb. I turned to leave, but suddenly, a stream of water hit my back. “Are you Lily Thorne’s mom?” Malice laced his childish voice. “You’re just as much a slut as Lily Thorne. Wearing a skirt in winter, who are you trying to hook up with?” I froze. “You… what did you say?” He grinned. “She wore such a short skirt, wasn’t she asking for it? What’s wrong with me kissing her? She dared to refuse me, she deserved to be taught a lesson!” Blood instantly rushed to my head. So, everything my daughter suffered began with such an absurd reason. I rushed forward, trembling with rage, and slapped him hard on the back. “Stop it!” Alex rushed over, shoving me away. I staggered backward, slipped, and fell onto the cobblestones. Blood beaded from my palms. “Are you insane?! Laying your hands on a child?” He glared down at me, his chest heaving. My eyes were bloodshot. “He deserved it! Not only do I want to hit him, I wish I could…” *Slap!* A stinging slap turned my head, and my left ear rang. “Do you even know what you’re saying?!” Vanessa rushed over, gripping my shoulders tightly. “Whatever issues you have, take them out on me! Please, don’t bully my child!” She screamed hysterically. Then, she suddenly leaned close to my ear, her hot breath sending chills down my spine. “I heard your daughter died horribly… it was worth spending a fortune to bribe that bullfighter.” My blood instantly froze. It was her! All this time, it was her! Rage overwhelmed my reason. By the time I regained my senses. Vanessa was already slumped by the poolside, clutching her stomach and wailing. “What do you think you’re doing?!” Alex’s face was ashen as he helped her up, then turned to roar at me. “What are you trying to do?” My voice trembled. “Do you know what she just said? She said…” “Alex… my stomach hurts so much…” Vanessa weakly clutched his sleeve, her face deathly pale. Alex’s expression immediately changed. He held Vanessa tightly, casting a hateful glare at me. “Throw this crazy woman into the pool! Let her cool off in there all night!” I stared hard at Vanessa. She was hiding in Alex’s arms, giving me a defiant smirk. With that, his resolute figure disappeared into the night, not even looking back at me as I soaked in the cold water. The cold felt like a thousand steel needles pricking my bones. I couldn’t stop shaking. It seemed when a heart turns cold, even the most basic concern vanishes completely. The next day, after packing my things, I sent Damon Blackwood a text. As soon as I reached the living room. Alex stormed over, furious. Behind him followed Vanessa, her face streaming with tears. “Sarah Reed, I truly underestimated you! You’ve already forced Caleb to transfer schools, and you still won’t leave him alone!” He threw his phone, hitting my forehead. “It’s because you’re spreading rumors that Caleb is a bully! Now all the parents in the SnapChat groups are demanding he be expelled!” “Are you trying to kill him?! He’s just a child!” I looked at his furious face and suddenly found it amusing. “You weren’t even this angry when Lily was bullied. Who exactly is your child?” Alex rubbed his temples, his voice tinged with helplessness. “How can that be the same? No matter what, those were just kids’ squabbles.” “You already made him transfer, why can’t you just let it go?” “Now, you’re coming with me to school to explain everything to those parents.” Even though I hadn’t done any of it. I was very satisfied with the outcome. “No!” Vanessa suddenly knelt before me, clutching my hand, tears dripping from her chin. “You’re a mother too. You must understand how I feel… If you just let us go, I’ll take my son and disappear, okay?” Her long fingernails dug into my flesh. I cried out in pain and yanked my hand away. Alex rushed forward, anxiously pulling her into his embrace. I suddenly laughed out loud. “Why didn’t you tell me you were pregnant?” Alex’s pupils constricted. “I advise you to abort this child. Otherwise, I can’t guarantee she’ll be born safely.” The panic in his eyes was instantly replaced by fury. “Do you know what you’re saying?! When did you become so vicious?!” “Since you can’t tolerate this child, then let’s get a divorce right now!” I curved my lips into a smile. This was my goal all along. Only after I received the divorce papers did I finally feel completely at ease. Tears of relief streamed down my face. But Alex misinterpreted them. “If you apologize to Vanessa on your knees now, I don’t mind remarrying you.” “Dream on.” Alex was stung by my cold attitude, and a vein throbbed on his forehead. “Custody of the child goes to me! A lunatic like you can’t raise a good child! I’m a hundred times better than you!” Hearing that, I sneered. “Yes, you’re a great father. So great you don’t even know your own daughter is dead.” 4 Alex’s pupils contracted sharply, and he froze as if struck by lightning. “You… what did you say?” I took a step forward, each word like a knife piercing his heart. “Your daughter, Lily, was trampled to death by a bull in that arena!”

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